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Palestinian Islamic Jihad Releases Third Video of Israeli-Russian Hostage Sasha Troufanov
Israeli hostage Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov as seen in an undated propaganda video released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on May 30, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
JNS.org — Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a proof-of-life video on Wednesday of Russian-Israeli hostage Alexander (“Sasha”) Troufanov, who was abducted from his family home during the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and has been held captive in the Gaza Strip for 404 days.
In the undated video, the third of Troufanov that the terrorist organization has published, he says his age is 28, although he turned 29 on Monday.
In the video, Troufanov says that he and the other remaining captives (there are 101, 97 of whom were kidnapped on Oct. 7 and many of whom are believed to have died) are running out of food and basic hygiene products.
He pleads for the Israeli public to continue to push for a hostage deal and expresses fear of being accidentally killed by the Israel Defense Forces.
The two previous PIJ videos of Troufanov were released in May.
Trufanov is an engineer employed at Annapurna Labs, an Israeli company that was acquired by Amazon in 2015. His friends have tried to get the tech giant to issue a statement about his plight.
During the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, Trufanov was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his mother, Yelena Trufanov; his grandmother Irena Tati; and his girlfriend, Sapir Cohen. His mother and grandmother were freed by Hamas on Nov. 29, 2023, at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Cohen was released as part of a ceasefire deal that same month.
He also appeared in a propaganda video released by Hamas on Oct. 30, 2023, alongside two other women who were released during the November ceasefire. Alexander’s father, Vitaly Trufanov, was murdered in the Hamas terror onslaught on Nir Oz, along with some 40 other residents of the kibbutz.
His family authorized the publication of the most recent video, with his mother expressing concern at his words.
“I am relieved to see my son alive, but I am very worried to hear what he is saying,” Yelena Trufanov said.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that the video demonstrates the urgency of a deal to free the hostages.
It “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 forum said.
The post Palestinian Islamic Jihad Releases Third Video of Israeli-Russian Hostage Sasha Troufanov first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.