Israeli-Russian Academic Being Held by Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq, Netanyahu Says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a briefing near the Salem military post between Israel and the West Bank, 04 July 2023. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a briefing near the Salem military post between Israel and the West Bank, 04 July 2023. (EPA)
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Israeli-Russian Academic Being Held by Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq, Netanyahu Says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a briefing near the Salem military post between Israel and the West Bank, 04 July 2023. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a briefing near the Salem military post between Israel and the West Bank, 04 July 2023. (EPA)

An Israeli-Russian academic who went missing in Iraq a few months ago is alive and being held there by Shiite group Kataeb Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday.

A statement from Netanyhahu's office named the woman as Elisabeth Tsurkov. It said she had gone to Iraq for research purposes on behalf of Princeton University in the United States. There were no immediate details on her condition.

Tsurkov entered Iraq on her Russian passport, the statement said.

"Elisabeth Tsurkov is still alive and we see Iraq as responsible for her fate and well-being," the statement said, adding that the situation is being handled by the relevant bodies in Israel.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”