From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Freed hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov reveals Iraqi captors tortured and sexually assaulted her
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Freed captive Elizabeth Tsurkov says she was beaten, tortured, electrocuted and sexually assaulted during the 2.5 years she was held hostage by the Kataib Hezbollah terrorist group in Iraq.
Speaking to The New York Times in her first interview since she was freed in September, Tsurkov says her captors “basically used me as a punching bag.”
Tsurkov, a dual Israeli-Russian national who was studying at Princeton University, says that “I genuinely believe I would have died” if Trump administration officials had not “engaged so consistently and with such incredible determination” to demand her release.
She says that she is missing a tooth due to her beatings and spends much of her days in freedom lying on her back because her injuries make sitting or standing too painful.
The Times of Israel Community.