Israel announces rescue of Iraqi woman trafficked to the Gaza Strip

Israel announced this Thursday (3) the rescue of an Iraqi woman, from the Yazidi religious minority, who was trafficked and sold by the Islamic State to a man in the Gaza Strip in 2014. After a decade, she was reunited with her family.

The rescue and return home of Fawzi Amin Sido, now 21, was announced separately by the Israeli and Iraqi foreign ministries.

According to the Israeli government, Sido was removed from her family in 2014 amid attacks by the Islamic State on Yazidi communities in Iraq. She was then trafficked to a man from Gaza, who was believed to be a member of Hamas and was visiting the country at the time. Further details of the rescue were not provided.

This week, the US State Department said it “helped safely evacuate a young Yazidi woman from Gaza to reunite with her family in Iraq.” According to a US spokesperson, her captor was recently killed, allowing her to escape and seek repatriation.