Yazidi Woman Rescued in Gaza After More Than a Decade in ISIS Captivity
A Yazidi woman, Fawzia Amin Sido, who was captured by ISIS over a decade ago, has been rescued from Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Thursday that Fawzia, now 21 years old, was freed in a coordinated operation involving Israel, the United States, and other international actors.
Fawzia recounted her harrowing journey to CNN, explaining that she was kidnapped by ISIS as a child in August 2014 during the group’s capture of Sinjar, a city in northern Iraq’s Nineveh Governorate. The ISIS attack resulted in the mass execution of Yazidi men and boys and the brutal sexual enslavement of women and girls, including Fawzia.
After years of being trafficked across multiple countries, including Syria, Turkey, and Egypt, Fawzia eventually ended up in Gaza, where she endured ongoing harassment by Hamas. When the Israel-Hamas war broke out in 2023, she was repeatedly moved before an NGO helped rescue her on October 1. She was eventually taken to the Kerem Shalom border crossing and returned to Iraq.
The U.S. State Department confirmed its involvement, stating that the death of Fawzia’s captor during IDF strikes in Gaza enabled her escape.
Source: CTV
