Washington D.C. – Fox News, October 03, 2024
A Yazidi woman held captive by Islamic terrorists for the last decade has been reunited with her family in Iraq following her escape and safe evacuation on Oct. 1 in a coordinated effort between Israeli and U.S. officials, the State Department confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Fawzia Amin Sido, now 21, was just 11 years old when she was kidnapped by ISIS terrorists before she was sold and trafficked into Gaza, where she was forced to marry an alleged Hamas fighter.
Amin Sido was apparently able to escape after her captor was killed in what was believed to have been an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike, enabling her to flee to a “hideout” within the Gaza Strip.
“In a complex operation coordinated between Israel, the United States, and other international actors, she was recently rescued in a secret mission from the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing,” the IDF said in a statement Thursday. “Upon her entry into Israel, she continued to Jordan through the Allenby Bridge Crossing and from there-returned to her family in Iraq.”
The operation was led by the IDF’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories unit along with help provided by the U.S. Embassy in Israel, as well as other international actors, though the IDF did not detail who.
