Freed hostage Sasha Troufanov reveals sexual harassment during Gaza captivity

Freed Israeli hostage Sasha Troufanov reveals that he was sexually harassed while being held captive in Gaza.

In an interview with the BBC, Troufanov — who was released in February 2025 after almost 500 days in captivity — says that during a six-week period that he was held above ground, a guard tried to encourage him to do a sexual act on himself.

Troufanov also tells the British TV network that during his weekly allowed shower, he noticed a hidden camera.

“I noticed it and I took the shower trying to avoid my private parts toward this angle, but I had to do it because I needed to shower,” he says.

Then he was taken underground into the tunnel network, where he says it was dark and damp, and he was largely alone for many months.

“I remember feeling that I am buried underneath the ground while I am still alive. I was losing it. I was having a hard time to find hope in this place,” he says. “Many times I lost hope completely. I said to myself: ‘This is the last place you will see alive.'”

With the return of the final hostage body this week, Troufanov says that rebuilding Gaza is “understandable,” but the people there must be stopped from attacking Israel again: “The terrorists were telling me: ‘We will do this again and again.'”

Now, Troufanov, almost a year after finally achieving freedom, is set to dance in a few weeks at his wedding to Sapir Cohen, who was also taken captive on October 7 and freed after 50 days.