After being kidnapped by ISIS terrorists a decade ago at just 11 years old and eventually trafficked to Hamas, a Yazidi girl has been rescued by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from her captors in Gaza.
Fawzia Amin Sido, who is now 21 years old, was kidnapped from her family by ISIS terrorists and held hostage by a “Palestinian Hamas-ISIS member,” according to David Saranga, who serves as director of the digital diplomacy bureau at Israel’s foreign ministry. In a Thursday announcement, officials revealed that Sido had been rescued as part of a secret operation coordinated between the United States and Israeli forces in Gaza.
She has since been reunited with her Yazidi family in northern Iraq. Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking group living in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran.
“Her story is a reminder of the brutality faced by Yazidi children, taken without a choice,” Saranga said. “Remember, there are still 101 Israelis being held hostage in Gaza.”
Fawzia, a Yazidi girl kidnapped by ISIS from Iraq and brought to Gaza at just 11 years old, has finally been rescued by the Israeli security forces.
For years, she was held captive by a Palestinian Hamas-ISIS member.
She has now been reunited with her family. Her story is a… pic.twitter.com/nkVotqYdov
— David Saranga (@DavidSaranga) October 3, 2024
When she was rescued, Sido was found to be in good physical condition, but was obviously traumatized from spending a decade in captivity. Reports have confirmed that she was kidnapped in 2014 by ISIS terrorists who had been ravaging Yazidi communities and then trafficked to Gaza, where she was held hostage by a Hamas member until her eventual rescue. ISIS kidnapped more than 6,000 Yazidis in 2014, many of whom were then sold into sexual slavery.
In a statement, the IDF argued that this is clear evidence of Hamas’ ties to ISIS, and is also evidence of the Gaza-based terror group’s abhorrent crimes.
“This is further proof of the connection between Hamas and ISIS, as well as the crimes against humanity committed by the terrorist organization in Gaza,” the IDF statement read. “We will continue to act to dismantle the Hamas-ISIS terrorist organization and free all hostages in Hamas captivity.”
𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚, 𝐚 𝟐𝟏-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐘𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐝𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐒 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 3, 2024
The IDF also explained that the Hamas member who had been holding Sido hostage was recently killed in an Israeli airstrike, which freed Sido to make contact with Iraqi authorities, who then passed the information over to U.S. officials, according to Reuters. After several failed rescue attempts over the past four months, Sido was finally rescued “in a complex operation coordinated between Israel, the United States, and other international actors,” the Israeli military said in the statement.
