Elizabeth Tsurkov freed in 'secret Hezbollah-Israel prisoner exchange'

Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov was allegedly released by Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq as part of a secret prisoner deal, with diplomatic sources saying her freedom was linked to negotiations for the release of Lebanese naval captain Imad Amhaz and other Hezbollah detainees held by Israel.

Iraqi and Lebanese diplomatic sources told Erem News that shuttle diplomacy, much of it conducted in Turkey, paved the way for the swap.

A senior Iraqi diplomat said the outlines of the agreement were shaped in its final stage by the head of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, Faleh al-Fayyad, and Iraqi Badr Corps leader Hadi al-Amiri, who travelled together to Ankara last week "to complete what Turkish officials had prepared with Tel Aviv" regarding Tsurkov's release.

According to the same source, groundwork for the deal was laid more than a month earlier, when a senior Popular Mobilisation commander met with Israeli Mossad and Foreign Ministry officials at the Rotana Erbil Hotel.

They agreed to an exchange involving Tsurkov and Amhaz, along with members of the Lebanese group captured by Israel in the recent war in southern Lebanon.

The source added that senior Hezbollah figure Mohammed Kawtharani was closely following the Erbil meetings and was tasked with indirect negotiations with the Israelis.

A Lebanese political source, who asked not to be named, told Erem News that while Hezbollah had publicly denied that Amhaz was an important cadre, "he was responsible for the maritime smuggling line" before being seized by Israel.

Amhaz, in his 30s, was captured in a rare Israeli commando raid in the coastal city of Batroun in late 2024.

The four-minute operation, involving about 20 soldiers, saw him taken from a chalet near the beach and spirited out to sea by fast boats. Then Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati followed the case and filed a complaint with the UN Security Council over the illegal Israeli raid.

Hezbollah denounced the raid as a "Zionist act of aggression in the Batroun area", while Al Arabiya Al-Hadath sources described Amhaz as a naval captain "in a relationship with [Hezbollah], and perhaps facilitating arms transfers", but not a senior commander in the group.

Israel has portrayed him as a high-value Hezbollah operative.

Researcher Qassem Youssef told Erem News that Amhaz was "one of Hezbollah’s key cadres, which supervised the entry of the militia’s funds and weapons from abroad", adding that Israel treated him as "a prized catch" to uncover "the exact routes Hezbollah uses to smuggle weapons and funds".

The potential deal may also see Israel release seven other Hezbollah fighters captured during the recent conflict, which has been linked to the wider ceasefire agreement between Israel and the group. 

The same source said Washington played a central role, as "there remain unresolved issues related to the ceasefire agreement, foremost among them the [issue of detainees]". 

"It is not strange to link the deals between Lebanese Hezbollah and the group with the same name in Iraq, as they are part of the same axis, at a time when the Lebanese side needs some moral and practical support through completing a deal that concerns an important leader from its ranks," he added.

Youssef said the negotiations "are not new and began after the end of the war, not only for Amhaz but also for the return of Hezbollah fighters captured south of the Litani River".

He added that a special Hezbollah unit manages such exchanges with foreign governments, "chiefly Germany, to complete deals of this kind".

"The exchange process has been put on ‘high heat’," Youssef continued, describing an arrangement where "one person is handed over in exchange for another or others with him", and suggesting that Lebanon’s release of an Israeli detainee weeks ago may have paved the way for Amhaz’s potential release.

Tsurkovm, aged 37, was kidnapped in Baghdad in early 2023 by perpetrators alleged to be Kataeb Hezbollah while conducting academic research.

The Israeli-Russian citizen, a Princeton doctoral student, was held in detention for more than two years before being freed under the reported deal.