Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian group allied with Hamas, released a new video today of a man who said he was one of the Israelis taken hostage on October 7, 2023.
The video shows a young man with a beard who identified himself as Sacha Troufanov, according to the French news agency AFP.
The young man of Russian origin alluded to the Israeli military offensive in Lebanon, launched in the second half of September, and the Israeli airstrikes against Iran in late October.
He accused Benjamin Netanyahu's government of having launched an offensive in Lebanon to make people forget the issue of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
"They want a war with Iran to bury us and make us completely forgotten. Please, don't forget us," he pleaded, according to the Spanish news agency Europa Press.
Troufanov called on Israelis to step up demonstrations to pressure the government to release hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
The young man said he and the other hostages were running out of food and basic hygiene products, according to The Jerusalem Post.
"I want to remind the citizens of Israel that when they eat or drink something, they should know that we have no electricity," he said, according to Europa Press.
"I want them to think about us, the prisoners. When they close the border to put pressure on the Palestinians in Gaza (...), it affects us too," he added.
He also said he fears the day when the Israeli army will approach where he is being held or blow up the building where he is being held, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Islamic Jihad had already released two videos of Troufanov in May.
The young man was kidnapped on October 7, along with his parents, Yelena and Vitali, his grandmother, Irena Tati, and her partner, Sapir Cohen.
His father was killed and his mother, grandmother and partner were released in a hostage deal in 2023, the Jerusalem Post adds.
"I am relieved to see my son alive, but I am very worried to hear what he is saying," Troufanov's mother said after the video was published.
"I urge that every effort be made to secure his immediate release and that of all the other hostages. They have no more time," she added, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post.
The October 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, which has now spread to southern Lebanon, and has caused tens of thousands of deaths.
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