Wikipedia

Fawzia Amin Sido

Fawzia Amin Sido (Kurdish: Fewziya Emîn Seydo[1] فەوزییە ئەمین سیدۆ [a] Arabic: فوزية أمين سيدو [4][13] b. 1999[14] or 2003[15]) is a Yazidi woman from northern Iraq who was captured by the Islamic State (ISIS) as a 10-year-old child[b] during the Yazidi genocide in 2014. She was held in captivity for a decade and subjected to physical and sexual abuse.

Fawzia Amin Sido
Fewziya Emîn Seydo
فەوزییە ئەمین سیدۆ
Disappeared3 August 2014
StatusReunited with parents 2024
Other namesArabic: فوزية أمين سيدو
CitizenshipIraq
TelevisionRudaw Media Network[1]
Spouse2 (both died in war)[2][3][4][5]
Children2 (whereabouts unknown)
FatherAmin Sido
Family2 sisters and 5 brothers [6]

Initially she was forcibly married to a Palestinian ISIS militant in Syria, resulting in her having two children by him before she was 15. The militant sexually and physically abused her. After he was killed, she travelled with her two children to live with his family in the Gaza Strip in 2020.[2] In 2023 the family's home was hit by an airstrike, and she fled to a shelter elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.[18] The IDF said that the strike killed a "Hamas terrorist affiliated with ISIS" who was holding her captive.[19]

Sido leaving the Gaza Strip was complicated by Iraq not having diplomatic relations with Israel.[2] She was eventually allowed to enter Israel, then escorted to Jordan by American officials, and ultimately reunited with her family in Sinjar, Iraq. Media report indicates that the United States, Israeli, Iraqi, and Jordanian governments collaborated in her evacuation from the Gaza Strip.

Early experiences with captivity

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Fawzia Amin Sido was abducted by ISIS on 3 August 2014,[20] a month before her 11th birthday,[2] on the first day of the attack,[21] when ISIS overran the Sinjar District in Iraq.[22] Two of her brothers were also captured, but her brothers were released 8 months later.[15] Since her kidnapping, her family has had little communication with her.[3]

By early 2015,[2] Sido was transferred to Raqqa, Syria, where she was forcibly married to a 24-year-old Palestinian ISIS militant.[3][2] She later recounted in an interview that "He told me that I had to sleep with him. On the third day, he went to a pharmacy and brought a drug that numbs part of the body. He gave me the drug and I cried".[2] She faced continuous sexual and physical abuse from her husband, becoming pregnant and giving birth to two children at a young age.[3][2] The husband became increasingly abusive, particularly after taking a second wife.[2]

Hamas claim the first man she was married to was fighting for the anti-Assad and anti-ISIS Syrian opposition forces, not ISIS.[23][24][25]

By the end of 2018, after U.S.-led Kurdish forces expelled ISIS from Syria, 15-year-old Saydo lost contact with her Palestinian captor, who fled to Idlib,[2] which had been captured from Assad government forces by non-ISIS Sunni Islamists in 2015. In early 2019, she briefly reunited with him before he was reported dead.[2]

Travel to the Gaza Strip

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After the ISIS militant who bought her was killed, Sido traveled to live with his family in Gaza,[3] fearing rejection from her community in Iraq due to the circumstances of her children's conception.[2][26][27]

She and her children undertook a four-year[verification needed] journey through Turkey and Egypt,[3] eventually arriving in the Gaza Strip around 2020.[3][2] Once there, she faced significant hardship at the hands of her husband's family. Isolated from her own family, community, and native language, she experienced profound distress while caring for her two young children in her new environment.[3]

On 3 October 2024, the Director General of Yazidi Survivors Affairs at the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs told Rudaw Media Network, "Fawzia was with an ISIS militant from the Gaza Strip, and his mother took her with her to the Strip 4 years ago after her son was killed".[28] Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said she was "kidnapped by ISIS in Iraq, sold and forced to marry a Hamas fighter in Gaza, moved to Gaza against her will".[17] The Voice of America interview said that she has chosen to go to Gaza because she worried that she or her children would be rejected by her parents and community.[2]

Living in the Gaza Strip

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Relationship with the family in Gaza

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Most sources said Sido was 21 when she left the Gaza Strip, but the media office in Gaza claimed she was 25.[24]

Rudaw TV's Arabic service reported that, after moving to the Gaza Strip, Sido married the younger brother of the Palestinian militant who had died in Syria.[4]

She told Kiddush TV that the her dead husband's family has been kind to her at first and provided her with support, but at some point they stopped supporting her and she was then supported by an unnamed unnamed philanthropist.[29]

The IDF claimed that Sido had been held captive by a "Hamas terrorist affiliated with ISIS".[19] Despite ISIS and Hamas having incompatible ideologies and a hostile relationship. Fox News claimed she was "forced to marry an alleged Hamas fighter" after arriving in Gaza.[5]

She said that in fact Hamas treated her as a slave. After the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, she was also sent to work as a slave in a hospital - and explained to "The Sun" that "all hospitals were used as Hamas bases. They all had weapons. There were weapons everywhere".[30][unreliable source?]

Suicide attempts and detention

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In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Fawzia reported enduring severe abuse from both her husband's family and Hamas authorities, leading to multiple suicide attempts and a month of forced hospitalization.[3]

Some report that the Gaza Strip had an unusually high suicide rate, particularly among young people around the time she arrived.[31] In 2020 the Hamas government and the locally based non-government human rights group Al Mezan Center for Human Rights disagreed on the exact numbers, Al Mezan reported a "surge" while Hamas claimed there was a slight decrease.[32] According to Amira Hass, an Israeli journalist for Haaretz based in the occupied West Bank, some of the attempted suicides in the Gaza Strip were allegedly "political", including some reports of attempted self-immolation.[33]

Interrogation by authorities in Gaza

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CNN reported Fawzia as saying, "Hamas constantly harassed me due to my Yazidi background and contact with my family, even going so far as to format my phone [erase its contents] during their investigations. After a year, they moved me to a guest house".[23]

Reasons for leaving

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Hamas claimed she left voluntarily.[14][34] Gaza's government media office released a statement on 4 October 2024 that contradicted most elements of the Israeli version of events.[25]

BBC Arabic quoted a long statement from Gaza's government press office in which Hamas contradicted most elements of the IDF story. They said that she was 25 years old and she had not been a captive (Arabic: الأسيرة, romanized: al-Aseera "the female prisoner of war" or "the female hostage").[16] Hamas claimed she was living in Gaza willingly and only wanted to leave because of the war.[24] The United States State Department spokesperson said Sido had been "safely evacuated", not "rescued".[35]

In a conversation with The Jerusalem Post, Sido expressed the gravity of her circumstances, "My situation is very bad. The situation here is grave in many ways. I need to find a way to get out of here as fast as possible. I want to get back to my family".[3] She reported enduring severe abuse from both her husband's family and Hamas authorities, lead to her multiple suicide attempts and forced hospitalization.[3] Despite feeling marginally safer in her current location, she conveyed her despair, questioning the purpose of sharing her story, stating, "Is there any benefit in me talking to you about my life, or is it just tiring me out? Because many have asked me and I told them everything, but unfortunately to no avail".[3]

Contact with the media

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See also: Rudaw Media Network

Using a cell phone[when?] Sido recorded a TikTok video detailing her plight, which received attention from Rudaw News, a Kurmanji-speaking media outlet in Iraq, who subsequently assisted in locating her estranged family in Iraqi Kurdistan.[3]

Fawzia was first interviewed by Rudaw News in August 2023, before the beginning of the escalation of the Israel–Palestine conflict in October 2023.[1] Fawzia was interviewed by presenter Nasser Ali on Rudaw TV with her face almost completely covered by a dark Niqāb.[15] Other Iraqi media interviewed her father, Amin Sido, and said he was critical of Rudaw's coverage.[15]

Kurdish Media reported that Fawzia converted to Islam while in Syria.[36]

She also spoke to Israeli media before leaving the Gaza Strip, using the name "Lucia" (Hebrew: לוסיה)[37][38][39]

Airstrike

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See also: Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, AI-assisted targeting in the Gaza Strip, and targeted killing by Israel

The Jerusalem Post said that in Gaza she was living with her two young children "at the home of her former husband’s family" (referring to the Palestinian who died in Syria).[3]

Steve Maman, a Canadian Jewish businessman and head of The Liberation of Christian and Yazidi Children of Iraq,[2][3] known for his efforts to rescue Yazidis from ISIS, told The Jerusalem Post in September 2024 that Fawzia Amin Sido escaped her captors in late 2023 after a "Hamas fighter" holding her was killed in an Israeli airstrike amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.[3]

The statement from the government in Gaza confirmed that her second husband, the younger brother of her children's father, had been killed in an Israeli air strike, but contradicted most other parts of the Israeli narrative.[24] However, Fawzia did not mention a second marriage when she spoke to Rudaw Media Network in August 2023.[29]

Children

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Major news reports published when Fawzia left the Gaza Strip did not mention what happened to her children or whether they survived the airstrike on the family's house.[2][3] Despite the length of the Hamas statement published by BBC Arabic, it did not mention where Sido's children were or whether they are still alive.[16]

Rescue operation

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In August 2024, an advisor to the Prime Minister of Iraq said that there were Yazidi women and children in both Iraq and Turkey and he was trying to rescue them.[40][better source needed]

There were multiple countries involved in her rescue or evacuation from the Gaza Strip. Several countries and organizations released conflicting reports about the nature of their roles.[24][29][25] The Israeli military (and sympathetic sources) said she was being held captive by a militant in Gaza and the Israeli military had rescued her.[24][25][38][17][5] Gaza's government media office released a statement on 4 October 2024 that contradicted most elements of the Israeli version of events,[25] they said she has chosen to leave because of the war.[24][25][14][34] The Iraqi foreign ministry praised groups from Iraq, Jordan, and the United States for Fawzia's safe return home, but did not mention Israeli involvement.[13][41][24][25]

After Fawzia was interviewed by Rudaw News, Maman[who?] facilitated communication between her family and Israeli authorities, urging swift[ambiguous] action from the Israeli National Security Council to orchestrate Sido's rescue and reunite her with her family. Utilizing his network, he arranged for a safe haven for Sido near Israel Defense Forces (IDF) positions,[3][unreliable source?] just two kilometers away from the Kerem Shalom border crossing.[2]

The rescue process was prolonged and repeatedly rescheduled due to the challenges posed by the diplomatic rift between Israel and Iraq and a 2022 Iraqi law that criminalizes any ties with Israel.[2] On 3 October 2024, reports confirmed Sido's release from Gaza. Israeli intelligence said that they had uncovered her situation, and had engaged with U.S. authorities for further assistance.[22] An IDF report indicated that the operation involved coordination between the IDF's COGAT, the US Embassy in Jerusalem, and other members of the international community.[42] Sido eventually allowed to enter Israel through the Kerem Shalom border crossing,[42] where she received essential food and medical care, before being escorted by US officials to Jordan via the Allenby border crossing.[22] Saydo arrived in Baghdad on the morning of October 2, and was escorted by Iraqi intelligence officers to Mosul,[2] where she reunited with her mother and the rest of her surviving family.[22][18]

Reactions to her return home

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Fawzia's return to her parents and siblings was announced separately by Israel and Iraq.[42] After she left the Gaza Strip, Brig. Gen. Elad Goren, who oversees Israeli humanitarian efforts in Gaza, remarked that Sido appeared to be physically well but was "not in a good mental situation" after years of abuse.[22] A similar report was provided by Silwan Sinjaree, an official from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.[43]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Kurdish language media has spelled her surname several ways: سیدۆ [7][8][9] or سەیدۆ [6] or سەیدیۆ [10][11][12]
  2. ^ Gaza's government media office said she was 3 or 4 years older,[16] Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said she was 11,[17] Voice of America said she was not yet 11.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Min çawa Fewziya Emîn Seydo li Xezeyê dît?". manage.rudaw.net. RÛDAW. 5 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Hussein, Rikar (3 October 2024). "Yazidi sex slave rescued from Gaza in rare, internationally collaborative mission". Voice of America. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Kidnapped Yazidi woman stuck in Gaza for years yearns to be set free". The Jerusalem Post. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Freeing a Kurdish Yazidi girl in Gaza who was kidnapped by ISIS 10 years ago" تحرير فتاة كوردية إيزدية في غزة اختطفها داعش قبل 10 سنوات. www.rudaw.net (in Arabic). Iraq: Rudaw Media Network. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024. Quote: Arabic: "شقيقاً أصغر للمسلح عقد قرانه عليها واتخذها زوجة له"., lit. 'The gunman's younger brother married her and took her as his wife.'
  5. ^ a b c "Yazidi woman held hostage for 10 years in Gaza rescued in Israel, US operation". www.foxnews.com Fox News. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  6. ^ a b "A Kurdish woman kidnapped by ISIS has been rescued in Gaza" [ژنێکی کوردی ئێزدی کە لەلایەن داعشەوە رفێندرابوو لە غەززە رزگار کرا]. manage.rudaw.net (in Kurdish). Rudaw Kurdish. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Israeli army: Yezidi woman rescued from Gaza and sent back to Iraq" [سوپای ئیسرائیل: ژنێکی ئێزدی لە غەززە رزگارکرا و نێردرایەوە عێراق]. manage.rudaw.net (in Kurdish). Rudaw Media Network. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  8. ^ "AVA tells the "sad" story of the rescue of a Kurdish girl in Gaza - AVA News" [ئاڤا چیرۆکی "دڵتەزێنی" ڕزگارکردنی کچێکی کوردی ئێزدی لە غەززە دەگێڕێتەوە]. AVA News (in Central Kurdish). www.ava.news. AVA News. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Israeli army: Yezidi woman rescued from Gaza and sent back to Iraq" [سوپای ئیسرائیل: ژنێکی ئێزدی لە غەززە ڕزگارکرا و نێردرایەوە ئێراق]. Kurdipedia.org. Kurdipedia کوردیپێدیا. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  10. ^ "ئەمەریکا لە پرۆسەیەکی دیپلۆماسی ئاڵۆزدا ژنێکی ئێزیدی لە غەززە ڕزگاردەکات" [United States rescues Yazidi woman in Gaza in complicated diplomatic process]. Voice of America (in Kurdish). 3 October 2024. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  11. ^ "A Yazidi woman rescued in Gaza in a complicated diplomatic process; Read his story" [ە پڕۆسەیەکی دیپلۆماسی ئاڵۆزدا ژنێکی ئێزیدی لە غەززە ڕزگاركرا؛ چیرۆكه‌كه‌ی بخوێنه‌ره‌وه‌]. Xendan. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  12. ^ "The United States rescues a Yazidi woman from Gaza in a complicated diplomatic process" [ئەمەریکا لە پرۆسەیەکی دیپلۆماسی ئاڵۆزدا ژنێکی ئێزیدی لە غەززە ڕزگاردەکات]. www.zamenpress.com. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  13. ^ a b "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces the liberation and receipt of a kidnapped Yazidi woman through joint efforts" وزارة الخارجية تعلن تحرير واستلام مختطفة إيزيدية بجهود مشتركة. mofa.gov.iq (Arabic) (in Arabic). Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 3 October 2024.
  14. ^ a b c "Hamas counters abduction claim, says Yazidi woman's Gaza departure was voluntary". The Business Standard. 6 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d "Amin Sayedou, father of the kidnapped Fawzia, talks about the story of her appearance on Rudaw TV" أمين سيدو والد المختطفة فوزية يتحدث عن قصة ظهورها على قناة روداو.. Zewa News - وكالة زيوا الاخبارية zewanews.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "Israel says 'Yazidi captive returned to Iraq after 10 years in captivity in Gaza', Hamas tells BBC 'Israeli story is fabricated'" [إسرائيل تقول إن "أسيرة إيزيدية عادت إلى العراق بعد الأسر في غزة عشر سنوات"، وحماس تقول لبي بي سي إن "الرواية الإسرائيلية مُلفقة"]. BBC News Arabic (in Arabic). 4 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  17. ^ a b c "Israel army rescued Yazidi woman from Gaza after decade in captivity". www.lemonde.fr/en Le Monde. Agence France-Presse (AFP). 3 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  18. ^ a b Stocker, Joanne (3 October 2024). "Yazidi woman kidnapped by ISIS in Iraq escapes from Gaza a decade later, officials say - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  19. ^ a b "The IDF led by COGAT, in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Israel, rescued a young Yazidi woman held by a Hamas terrorist affiliated with ISIS in the Gaza Strip". www.idf.il. Israel Defense Forces. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  20. ^ "Amin Sayedou, father of the kidnapped Fawzia, talks about the story of her appearance on Rudaw TV" أمين سيدو والد المختطفة فوزية يتحدث عن قصة ظهورها على قناة روداو.. Zewa News - وكالة زيوا الاخبارية (in Arabic). Retrieved 13 October 2024. Quote in Arabic: فوزية امين سيدو من مواليد 2003 هي و أثنين من أخوانها وقعوا في الآسر بيد داعش الارهابي في 3_8_2014، يذكر ان أخوانها الأثنين قد حرروا في 8_4_2015 الا انها هي بقت ولم تحرر حتى الآن.
  21. ^ Azhari, Timour (2 August 2024). "Yazidis fear returning to their homeland, 10 years after massacre". Reuters. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  22. ^ a b c d e Livni, Ephrat (3 October 2024). "Yazidi Woman Taken Captive by ISIS Has Been Rescued in Gaza, Israel Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Yazidi woman captured by ISIS rescued in Gaza after more than a decade in captivity". CNN. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h "Hamas refutes Israeli claim of rescuing Yazidi woman". www.newarab.com The New Arab. 6 October 2024.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g "Gaza government denies Israeli account of kidnapping of Kurdish Yazidi girl" [حكومة غزة تنفي الرواية الاسرائيلية بشأن اختطاف الفتاة الكوردية الإيزدية]. Archived from the original on 5 October 2024.
  26. ^ Menmy, Dana Taib (24 March 2024). "'We do not accept those children': Yazidis forbid ISIL offspring". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  27. ^ "Yazidis to accept ISIL rape survivors, but not their children". Al Jazeera. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  28. ^ Nehru Mohammed (3 October 2024). "Freeing a Kurdish Yazidi girl in Gaza who was kidnapped by ISIS 10 years ago". www.rudawarabia.net (in Arabic). Rudaw Media Network. Retrieved 11 October 2024. Quote from the Director General of Yazidi Survivors Affairs at the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Arabic: "فوزية كانت برفقة أحد مسلحي داعش من أهالي قطاع غزة، وقد نقلتها والدته معها إلى القطاع قبل 4 سنوات بعد مقتل ابنها". English: "Fawzia was with an ISIS militant from the Gaza Strip, and his mother took her with her to the Strip 4 years ago after her son was killed".
  29. ^ a b c Karwan Faidhi Dri (4 October 2024). "Gaza authority refutes Israeli claims about rescued Yazidi woman". Rûdaw English www.rudaw.net. Erbil, Kurdistan Region. Retrieved 3 November 2024. Sido had told Rudaw that her in-laws were good to her. They rented her a house and financially supported her at the beginning. However, after her ISIS-linked husband's family stopped supporting her, she depended on the generosity of an unnamed philanthropist. She did not mention a second marriage.
  30. ^ ynet (18 October 2024). "הצעירה היזידית: "אולצתי לאכול בשר תינוקות בעיראק. חמאס לא שונה מדאעש"". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  31. ^ "Palestinian rights group concerned about 'surge' in Gaza suicide attempts". Middle East Monitor. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  32. ^ "Palestinian rights group decries 'surge' in Gaza suicide attempts due to 'poverty'". Al Arabiya English. Al Arabiya Network. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  33. ^ Amira Hass (22 July 2020). "In Gaza, Suicides Are a Political Message". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024.
  34. ^ a b Nidal Al-Mughrabi (5 October 2024). "Hamas counters abduction claim, says Yazidi woman's Gaza departure was voluntary". www.reuters.com. Reuters.
  35. ^ Azhari, Timour (4 October 2024). "Yazidi woman freed from Gaza in US-led operation after decade in captivity". Reuters.
  36. ^ Karwan Faidhi Dri (3 August 2023). "Agonizing journey of a Yazidi ISIS bride from Shingal to Palestine". www.rudaw.net Rudaw Media Network. Kurdistan. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  37. ^ "Behind the scenes of the dramatic rescue of the Yazidi girl from Gaza" מאחורי הקלעים של החילוץ הדרמטי של הצעירה היזידית מעזה. www.kan.org.il Kan 11. Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  38. ^ a b https://www.kan.org.il/content/kan-news/defense/807848/
  39. ^ "הצעירה מעזה שנחטפה מעיראק, יצרה קשר עם עיתונאי ישראלי - בחדרי חרדים". 5 October 2024.
  40. ^ Nalîn Hesen (3 August 2024). "Dr. Khalef Şingali: Yezidi women in Hol Camp do not dare to reveal themselves (Dr. Xelef Şingalî: Jinên Êzidî yên li Kampa Holê newêrin xwe eşkere bikin)". manage.rudaw.net. Retrieved 13 October 2024. Quote in Kurdish: "Şêwirmendê Serokwezîrê Îraqê yê Kar û Barên Êzidiyan herwiha amaje pê kir ku li Xeze û Tirkiyeyê jî jin û zarokên Êzidî hene û ew ji bo rizgarkirina wan hewl didin." (Machine translation: "The adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister on Yazidi affairs also pointed out that there are Yazidi women and children in Gaza and Turkey and they are trying to save them.")
  41. ^ "Foreign Ministry Announces the Release of a kidnapped Yazidi through Joint Efforts – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of IRAQ". mofa.gov.iq. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  42. ^ a b c "Israel rescues Yazidi woman from Gaza after her kidnapping by ISIS at age 11". The Times of Israel. 3 October 2024.
  43. ^ "Yazidi woman rescued from Gaza after decade in captivity". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
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