Palestinian Islamic Jihad releases propaganda video of hostage Sasha Trufanov
Captive describes shortages, says he has developed skin condition in captivity, urges protests to pressure government to reach deal; Gaza drone strike kills Oct. 7 terrorist
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on Wednesday published a propaganda video of hostage Sasha Trufanov, which his family authorized media outlets to publicize.
After a year in captivity, Trufanov describes a shortage of food, water, electricity, and basic hygiene products in the Gaza Strip, adding that he now has a skin condition that he did not have before being abducted. Like in several other hostage videos released by terror groups, Trufanov urges citizens to demand the government reach a deal for their release, and says that the Israel Defense Forces operation only puts them in more danger.
It is unclear exactly when the video was made, though it appears to be recent, as Trufanov mentions Israel’s ground incursion in Lebanon, which was announced on October 1. Though he says in the clip that he is aged 28, the video was released two days after he turned 29, his second birthday in captivity.
“I want to remind the citizens of Israel that every time you eat something or drink something, remember us, the hostages, who don’t have the opportunity to enjoy food or water,” he says.
Trufanov says that when border crossings are closed to Gaza and humanitarian aid is halted, life is made difficult for the hostages as well as the Palestinians.
He says that his life is in danger, mainly due to “the military efforts that are aimed at releasing us,” adding that his captors have guarded him with their lives, and some were injured and killed in the process.
Sasha Trufanov speaks in a video released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on November 13, 2024 (Screengrab)
“My fear for my life is daily. The military efforts to release me that [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is selling you is what will end up leading to my death,” he says.
“I can tell you I have become scared of the army. I am really afraid of the moment the army might get to me, or blow up the place I am located,” Trufanov says, claiming that many hostages have been killed by the military.
He says that the only good thing that had been done for the hostages was the first truce in November when 105 were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Trufanov also asks the citizens of Israel to keep protesting and to remember the hostages, expressing concern that the government has moved on and has “forgotten” those held in Gaza while fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Go to the streets, close the roads for a period of time. Go on strike for a period of time. Remember us. Don’t forget us. We are here in Gaza, in danger daily, in a difficult situation,” he urged, adding that he missed his family and freedom.
The video of Trufanov was released more than 13 months after Palestinian terrorists rampaged through Kibbutz Nir Oz, killing or kidnapping 117 of its 400 residents. Trufanov was taken hostage along with three members of his family — grandmother Irena Tati, mother Lena Trufanova, and his girlfriend, Sapir Cohen.
It was the third video the terror group has released of Trufanov.
Responding to the video, Trufanov’s mother said that she was relieved to receive proof of life but that she was “very worried to hear what he is saying.”
“I urge that every effort be made to secure his immediate release and that of all other hostages. They have no time left,” said Trufanova.
Trufanova and Tati were released by Hamas on November 29 at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cohen was released on November 30 as part of the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The Hostages Families Forum said that the “horrific” video shows the urgent need for a deal.
The video “highlights the urgency of returning the 101 hostages – and now, with winter approaching, these hostages, who have been subjected to horrific conditions of abuse, starvation, and darkness for over a year, face an increasing risk of losing their lives,” the group said.
Terror groups have previously issued similar videos of hostages in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.
Most Israeli media outlets do not carry the video clips unless given permission by relatives.
Sasha Trufanov is an engineer employed at Annapurna Labs, an Israeli microelectronics company purchased by Amazon.
He and Cohen had recently moved in together in a Ramat Gan apartment, so when the Gaza border communities were attacked by Hamas terrorists in what became a massacre of hundreds, his friends didn’t know at first that he was visiting his family there.
Last month, the terror group said Trufanov and another hostage with Russian citizenship, Maxim Herkin, would be among the first to be released in an eventual hostage deal.
According to Channel 12 news, Russia’s ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov told Israeli political officials on Tuesday that Moscow had received a sign of life from Trufanov ten days ago.
The report said that Trufanov’s mother Lena was updated on the matter. The network also reported Viktorov told officials that Moscow has channels for receiving updates on Trufanov and Harkin.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Four hostages were released before the November deal, eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Terrorist who participated in Oct. 7 massacre killed in Gaza
A terrorist who participated in the October 7 onslaught was killed in a recent IDF drone strike in Gaza City, the military said Wednesday.
It said that it had targeted and eliminated a cell of gunmen spotted operating in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. Among the dead was Yasser Ghandi, who according to the IDF infiltrated into Israel and participated in the attack on October 7.
Palestinian medics said Wednesday that five were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a group of people outside Kamal Adwan Hospital near Beit Lahiya, while five others were killed in two separate strikes in Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip where the army began a limited raid two days ago.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, one man was killed and several others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike, while three Palestinians were killed in two separate airstrikes in the Shejaia neighborhood of Gaza City, medics added.
On Tuesday, the military said troops of the Kfir Brigade operating in Beit Lahiya discovered and demolished a Hamas rocket launcher primed for an attack on Israeli border communities.
The IDF said the soldiers also killed several gunmen who were holed up in a building in the area. The building, which the military says served as a command center for the terror operatives, was later demolished.
The Kfir Brigade has been operating in the Beit Lahiya area, close to Jabalia, amid an ongoing operation against Hamas in northern Gaza. On Monday, four soldiers of the brigade were killed during the fighting.
The IDF’s offensive in Jabalia began in early October, the fourth push into the northern Gaza refugee camp since the start of the war a year ago. The military has said that this operation will finally break Hamas’s forces in Jabalia, which it has called the “most significant center of gravity” for the terror group in northern Gaza.
The IDF claims that more than 55,000 civilians have left Jabalia after Hamas allegedly forced them to stay there to act as a human shield for their activities. Some 60,000 Palestinians were estimated to have been in Jabalia before the latest operation was launched last month.
The population has largely moved to Gaza City, with only a few dozen crossing the IDF’s Netzarim Corridor and heading to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip’s south.
Last week, the IDF estimated that only a few hundred people were left in Jabalia, both civilians and combatants. Several thousand Palestinians also remain in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun, and other northern Gaza towns, where the military is also operating against Hamas as part of the ongoing offensive.
The army said it has killed over 1,000 Hamas operatives in the renewed Jabalia offensive, adding that it has taken over 1,000 operatives into custody.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says that over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza, though the numbers cannot be verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Israel says it has killed some 18,000 combatants in battle as of November and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 375.
The war erupted when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern communities on October 7, 2023, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages to Gaza.
