The Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that a Princeton University doctoral student reportedly missing in Iraq for months was suspected of being held hostage by Shia militias.

Elisabeth Turkov is reportedly being held by the Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah. statement. Turkov, an Israeli-Russian dual citizen, reportedly traveled to Iraq on a Russian passport to pursue his PhD and academic studies on behalf of Princeton University before he disappeared.

Turkov is also a research fellow at the New Lines Institute, a Washington, DC-based think tank. According to a source close to her, she was last contacted on March 19, and in a message to the institute, she said, “I’m tired of doing fieldwork in the Middle East, so I’m writing my doctoral dissertation. I want to go back to Princeton University for that reason,” he said. Statement from the Institute.

“Just over a week later, we learned from sources that pro-Iranian militias had kidnapped her in Baghdad, where she was studying. is written in (Related: California student killed in Mexican border state)

Statement about Elizabeth Turkoff, a graduate student at Princeton University. pic.twitter.com/23OpqwZt8v

— Princeton University (@Princeton) July 5, 2023

“We hold Iraq responsible for its security and well-being,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. Officials in the State of Israel are addressing the issue “out of concern for the safety and well-being of Mrs. Elizabeth Turkov.”

“We are deeply concerned for her safety and health,” Princeton University said in a statement. statement and posted on Twitter.

Turkov, a doctoral student in political science, says his research focuses on “the Levant, especially the Syrian rebellion and civil war.”

“My research is based on a large network of contacts among civilians, activists, combatants, communities, political and military leaders,” she says. website said.

She has also done fieldwork in other regions such as Syria, Turkey and Jordan.

Kataib Hezbollah, also known as the Hezbollah Brigades or “Party of God’s Brigade,” was founded in 2007, is backed by Iran, and was turned into a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in July 2009, according to the Stanford University International Center. Certified. Security and Cooperation (CISAC).

No official information is currently available on whether the US government will be involved in securing Mr. Turkov’s release. CBS news coverage.