Israeli army rescues young Yazidi girl in Gaza abducted by Daesh in Iraq

Screenshot taken from a social media video posted on the account of David Saranga, an Israeli diplomat, shows the moment Fawzia Sido, a 21-year-old Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by Daesh in Iraq and freed from Gaza - PHOTO/ David Saranga via X/via REUTERS

Margarita Arredondas

04 de octubre de 2024 (18:00 h.)

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Fawzia Amin Sido was taken hostage at the age of 11 and sold to a Hamas member affiliated with Daesh

After 10 years kidnapped in the Gaza Strip, the Yazidi Fawzia Amin Sido, 21, has been able to return to her home in Sinjar (Iraq) thanks to a joint operation by the Israeli army, under the direction of COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories), and the US Embassy in Israel.

This operation was also made possible through the efforts of Steve Maman, president of the Foundation for the Liberation of Christian and Yazidi Children of Iraq, an organisation that aims to free Christian and Yazidi women captured by Daesh.

‘I promised Fawzia, the Yazidi who was kidnapped by Hamas in Gaza, that I would bring her back home to her mother in Sinjar. To her it seemed surreal and impossible, but not to me, my only enemy was time. Our team reunited her moments ago with her mother and family in Sinjar,’ Maman, nicknamed the 'Jewish Schindler', wrote on social media.

Fawzia, like so many other Yazidi women, was abducted when she was just 11 years old by Daesh terrorists. She was subsequently taken to Gaza, where she remained under the control of an ISIS-affiliated Hamas member for more than a decade. This event once again highlights the close connections between Hamas and Daesh.

According to Ynet, the young woman was forced to have children with the terrorist, who returned to Syria where he was killed. However, her family continued to hold the girl hostage until her recent release.

Fawzia Sido, a 21-year-old Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by Daesh in Iraq - PHOTO/ David Saranga via X/via REUTERS

‘Fauzia was held captive for years by a Palestinian member of Hamas-ISIS. Now, she has been reunited with her family. Her story is a reminder of the cruelty faced by Yazidi children who were forcibly abducted,’ announced David Saranga, director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Office of Digital Diplomacy, also recalling that 101 Israelis are still being held hostage in Gaza.

An estimated 1300 Yazidi children are still missing 10 years after the genocide suffered by this ethno-religious minority at the hands of Daesh. The same goes for the abducted women, most of them sold as sex slaves in several Middle Eastern countries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, the young woman's country, issued a statement on her release, indicating that it was carried out ‘through a joint effort with the international intelligence service’, without mentioning the role of Israel or the fact that she was being held in Gaza.