Palestinian militants release video of Israeli hostage in Gaza

A bearded man identifying himself as Sasha Trupanov calls on Israelis to put pressure on government to secure the release of hostages

By AFP

Published: Wed 13 Nov 2024, 5:29 PM

Last updated: Wed 13 Nov 2024, 6:36 PM

A Palestinian militant group allied with Hamas released a video on Wednesday of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza since the October 7 attack.

In the video, a bearded man identifying himself as Sasha Trupanov spoke in Hebrew about Israeli military operations in Lebanon, and called on Israelis to put pressure on the government to secure the release of hostages.

Trupanov, who stated in the video he was 28 and who recently turned 29, is a dual Russian-Israeli citizen who was abducted with his girlfriend Sapir Cohen from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza Strip.

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Trupanov's mother, grandmother and girlfriend, also abducted during Hamas's October 7 attack, were among those released during a week-long truce in November 2024 in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Trupanov's father Vitaly was killed during the October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israeli history.

"I am relieved to see my son alive, but I am very worried to hear what he is saying," Trupanov's mother Lena said in a statement published by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group.

"I urge that every effort be made to secure his immediate release and that of all other hostages. They have no time left," she added.

This is the third video of Trupanov published by Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group allied with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Qatar announced on Saturday it would end its mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas after months of fruitless negotiations.

When Hamas militants staged the October 7 attack, they took 251 hostages into the Gaza Strip. Some were already dead.

Of those, 97 are still held hostage, while 34 are confirmed dead but their bodies remain in Gaza.

The war in Gaza erupted with the attack, which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 43,665 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.