Efforts are underway to secure the release of an Israeli-Russian researcher that has been kidnapped in Iraq, senior security sources in the region have told Amwaj.media, speaking on condition that their nationality be withheld. The initiative to free Elizabeth Tsurkov, a doctoral researcher at Princeton University, is being led by a “regional state,” one senior source with close knowledge of the ongoing effort said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, highlighting the sensitivity of the case, the source explained that the initial outreach to influential Iraqi groups began in the weeks after Tsurkov’s abduction in Baghdad earlier this year. From the outset, the Iraqi side is said to have been reticent about engaging on the topic, Amwaj.media has learned.

When Israel decided to make the case public in July, it pointed the finger at Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shiite...