Islamic Jihad releases new clip of Israeli hostage Trupanov in Gaza

Jerusalem – A Palestinian militant group allied with Hamas released a new clip on Nov 15 of Israeli hostage Sasha Trupanov, held in Gaza since the October 2023 attack, after releasing a first video earlier this week.

Mr Trupanov, identified by his relatives in the previous video released on Nov 13, appealed to Aryeh Deri, leader of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas – a member of Israel’s governing coalition – to help free him and the other hostages held in Gaza.

Mr Trupanov, 29, is a dual Russian-Israeli citizen who was abducted with his girlfriend Sapir Cohen from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza border.

His mother and grandmother were also abducted and released along with Ms Cohen during a week-long truce and hostages for prisoners exchange in November 2023.

His father Vitaly Trupanov was killed in the October 2023 attack, the deadliest in Israeli history.

This is now the fourth video of Mr Trupanov released by Islamic Jihad.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called for the release of Mr Trupanov and another hostage, Mr Maxim Herkin, in comments made before the release of the latest clip.

“We reiterate our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians held by Palestinian groups, with priority given to our compatriots,” she said.

Mr Herkin, a 35-year-old Russian-Israeli citizen, was abducted at the Nova music festival.

Militants seized 251 hostages during the attack, some of them already dead. Of those, 97 are still held hostage and 34 are confirmed dead, but their bodies remain in Gaza.

The attack resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,736 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry, which the UN considers reliable. AFP