On Thursday, October 4th, Israeli authorities shared a monumental rescue mission that unfolded. The world learned that a Yazidi woman named Fawzi Amin Sido, who had been mercilessly abducted by ISIS in 2014 at just 11 years old, was finally freed from her captors. Her tragic journey saw her trafficked from Iraq into Gaza, where she was held for ten excruciating years, enduring relentless sexual abuse, torture, and unimaginable atrocities. This horrific chapter of her life was only brought to an end when Israeli forces successfully rescued her. Reuniting with her family, Sido’s story of survival emerged as one of triumph over adversity. Yet, amid these clear facts, CBS News sparked controversy with its portrayal of the event.

The US media outlet CBS News, rather than exposing the full extent of the horrors Sido had endured, suggested in their coverage and a corresponding X post that the Yazidi woman had merely been ‘stranded’ in Gaza. This narrative downplayed the clear reality that Sido wasn’t simply stranded—she had been trafficked by ISIS terrorists and held captive by Hamas operatives in Gaza. What CBS failed to highlight was the more sinister truth: she was forcefully married off, transformed into a sex slave, and subjected to an entire decade of unimaginable brutality at the hands of these terrorists.

The details of her ordeal, as outlined by Israel’s foreign ministry, paint a much darker picture. In 2014, ISIS launched attacks on Yazidi villages in Iraq, a period when the terror group gained control over vast portions of the country. During these attacks, families were torn apart, and in this chaos, Sido was separated from her loved ones. From there, her life took a devastating turn—she was sold to a Gazan man who had been in Iraq at the time, leading her into a life of captivity. It was not until recently, in an extensive rescue operation, that Israeli security officers were able to retrieve her and bring her back to her family.

The rescue of Fawzi Amin Sido, a 21-year-old Yazidi woman who had been trafficked by ISIS at the age of 11, was nothing short of a meticulously planned and highly sophisticated operation. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed that this daring rescue was coordinated by IDF’s COGAT, the US Embassy in Jerusalem, and other members of the international community. After years of captivity and unimaginable suffering in Gaza, Fawzi’s long ordeal was finally brought to an end.

The IDF provided further details about the operation, revealing that the terrorist who had been holding Sido captive was recently eliminated in an Israeli attack during ongoing fighting in Gaza. This provided the opportunity for Sido to escape her captor’s grip and find refuge in a hiding spot somewhere within the Gaza Strip. The IDF explained, "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 family in Iraq." The rescue involved a secretive mission, carried out through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, a key crossing point between Israel and Gaza.

The statement from the IDF also highlighted the broader significance of this case, further reinforcing the link between Hamas and ISIS. The IDF underscored, "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." They reiterated their determination to dismantle these terrorist organizations, stressing, "We will continue to act to dismantle the Hamas-ISIS terrorist organization and free all hostages in Hamas captivity."

This rescue not only saved a young woman from further horrors but also exposed the sinister cooperation between Hamas and ISIS, revealing that these groups are more closely aligned than ever in their shared mission of terror. The IDF’s commitment to continue fighting against these forces signals hope for others still trapped in captivity, and the world watches as this operation highlights the grim realities of terrorism and the critical need for global collaboration to combat it.

The Yazidi genocide and enslavement of women by ISIS

In 2014, the world witnessed one of the most brutal genocides carried out by the Islamic terror group ISIS. Their targets were the Yazidi people, an ethnic and religious minority living in Sinjar, located in northern Iraq. The ISIS jihadis singled out the Yazidis for their faith, resulting in mass killings and the widespread abduction of women and children. This tragic event is a glaring reminder of the atrocities committed in the name of terror.

On August 3rd, 2014, ISIS launched an all-out assault on Sinjar. Thousands of Yazidi men who refused to convert to Islam were mercilessly executed. Women and children were rounded up and taken captive, their futures darkened by the horrors that awaited them. Reports estimate that during the first few days of this massacre, around 5,000 Yazidi men were killed as part of this ethnic cleansing. The brutality did not stop there, as countless women and children faced a life of captivity and abuse.

According to a UNHCR report from 2016, the fate of many of the abducted Yazidi women remained uncertain. The report noted that “at least 3,200 Yazidi women and girls remain captives of ISIS, the majority of them held inside ISIS-controlled areas of Syria.” These women and girls were subjected to slavery, exploitation, and constant suffering, all under the oppressive rule of ISIS.

The report further detailed how these captives were transported to various ISIS-controlled locations. The process was organized with chilling precision. As the UNHCR report explained, “Regardless of where the Yazidi families were captured, ISIS fighters swiftly ordered the separation of males and females, except boys who had not reached puberty, who were allowed to remain with their mothers. Within an hour, those who survived capture were forcibly transferred to temporary holding sites.”

ISIS leaders and operational commanders communicated the logistics of these transfers via walkie-talkies and mobile phones, ensuring that these captives were moved from the Sinjar area to holding sites within Hasakah in Syria. As if this wasn’t horrifying enough, the secondary transfers were just as well-organized, with buses and large vehicles transporting the abducted Yazidis further into ISIS-controlled territories like Mosul, Tel Afar, and Baaj. These were deeper, more fortified strongholds of ISIS, making any hope of rescue or escape nearly impossible for the captives.

This meticulously executed enslavement and extermination campaign against the Yazidi people not only devastated thousands of lives but also left a scar on humanity, reminding us of the true horrors of extremist terror.

One of the most horrific aspects of the ISIS assault on the Yazidi people was the cruel enslavement of Yazidi women and girls. These women were subjected to unspeakable brutality under the guise of religious justification. ISIS brazenly defended their actions, claiming that their enslavement and sexual torture of Yazidi women was allowed by Islamic beliefs. They targeted the Yazidis because, according to ISIS, Yazidis were Mushriks, or polytheists, and they declared that Islam does not tolerate polytheism. Therefore, in their twisted logic, ISIS claimed the enslavement and abuse of these women were permitted.

ISIS also invoked the concept of “Maal-e-Ghanimat,” which refers to the “spoils of war” that include not only land, wealth, and cattle but also women and children. This concept was twisted and used to justify the capture of nearly 6,000 Yazidi women and girls, whom ISIS referred to as Sabaya, meaning slaves. These women endured brutal sexual assault, their dignity stolen from them as they were treated like property to be sold. Many were sold in slave markets known as “Souk Sabaya”, treated as mere “war booty” and even offered as “rewards” to ISIS fighters. For these women, captivity was an endless nightmare as many were sold multiple times, each time enduring the terror of new captors and new abuses.

In a UNHCR report titled “They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis,” the fate of these women was further detailed. The report documented that many Yazidi women were trafficked across borders, including places like Gaza, where they were used as sex slaves by ISIS sympathizers. Although the exact number of women trafficked to Gaza remains uncertain, it is widely reported that ISIS used these routes to transport Yazidi captives to territories outside Iraq, including Syria.

The atrocities committed against these women highlight not only the physical horrors of war but the deep-seated ideological extremism that allowed such cruelty to continue unchecked for years. The global community has a responsibility to remember these victims and to ensure that those who survived such terror are given the support and justice they deserve.