Islamic Jihad releases video of Israeli hostage in Gaza – World

JERUSALEM: Hamas-linked Islamic Jihad on Wednesday released a video of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza since the October 7 attack.

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

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

Trupanov’s mother, grandmother and girlfriend, also kidnapped in the October 7 Hamas attack, were among those released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2024 in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

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

“I am relieved to see my son alive, but I am very concerned to hear what he says,” Trupanov’s mother, Lena, said in a statement published by the campaign group Hostage and Missing Families Forum.

“I urge that every effort be made to secure his immediate release and that of all other hostages. They have run out of time,” she added.

This is Trupanov’s third video published by Islamic Jihad, affiliated with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

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

The Ministry of Health in Gaza estimates the death toll during the war at 43,712

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

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

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