Netanyahu's office released the first images of Tsurkov since she arrived in Israel, showing her limping as she was assisted by Israeli medics.

Video released on Thursday shows her embracing relatives and friends during an emotional reunion on Wednesday at a hospital near Tel Aviv.

During her conversation with Netanyahu, Tsurkov spoke of her ordeal and "described the harsh conditions of her captivity", the prime minister's office said in a statement.

She also expressed hope for the return of all the hostages held in Gaza since Hamas's October 2023 attack, it said.

Netanyahu told her that "extensive efforts had been made over a long period to bring her home to Israel," the statement added.

Tsurkov arrived in Israel on Wednesday, a day after being freed following her abduction in Baghdad in March 2023.

While Iraq said "outlaws" kidnapped Tsurkov, US President Donald Trump said she was released by the Hezbollah Brigades, a powerful pro-Iranian military faction.

Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University and fellow at the Washington-based New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, went missing in Iraq in March 2023.

She had likely entered Iraq on her Russian passport and had travelled to the country as part of her doctoral studies.

Her research focused on the Levant, and she worked extensively on Syria during its civil war as well as on Iraq. She speaks English, Russian, Hebrew and Arabic.

She was abducted as she was leaving a cafe in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood, an Iraqi intelligence source told AFP in 2023.