Three Hostages Released by Hamas, Including Russian-Israeli Citizen
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) announced that three hostages, including a Russian-Israeli dual citizen, Alexander Trufanow, were handed over to them in Gaza and are now on their way back to Israel for a first medical examination.
Trufanow, an engineer at Annapurna Labs, an Israeli subsidiary of Amazon, was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, along with his grandmother, mother and girlfriend, Sapir Cohen, during the Hamas attack on Israel that left over 1,200 people dead and around 250 taken as hostages. His father, Vitaly Trufanov, was killed in the attack. The three women were released in November 2023 as part of an agreement between the Hamas and Israel.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had instructed the Foreign Ministry and other relevant authorities to “do everything” to secure Trufanow’s release and a day later, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov in Israel announced that the Hamas had assured Moscow of Trufanow’s imminent release. Viktorov also stated that Trufanow was wounded during the kidnapping and is in a “not entirely satisfactory state.” The Hamas leadership had promised Russia that Trufanow would return “alive and well.”
Russia’s Ambassador to Qatar, Dmitri Dogadkin, explained that Alexander Trufanow was included in the first phase of the agreement between Israel and the Hamas, not the second, at Russia’s request.
The Palestinian leadership sees this as a sign of respect for Russia’s stance in favor of a just solution to the Middle East conflict. Russia maintains contacts with the Hamas and other actors in the region and positions itself as a mediator in hostage cases. Moscow emphasizes that a two-state solution – the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel – is the only way to resolve the decades-long conflict.
The release of the hostages is part of a series of exchange actions within the current ceasefire, which began on January 19. So far, 21 hostages have been released by the Hamas, while Israel has released over 730 Palestinian prisoners. In the Gaza Strip, 73 hostages are still being held, of whom half are considered dead.
The Trufanov family had moved from Rostov-on-Don in Russia to Israel in the late 1990s. Before his kidnapping, Alexander Trufanov worked as an engineer at Annapurna Labs, an Israeli subsidiary of Amazon. The company was criticized for not publicly commenting on the kidnapping of its employee by the Hamas.
Despite the releases, violence in the region remains unabated. Israel continues its military operations in the Gaza Strip, while the Hamas continues to fire rockets at Israeli territory. The humanitarian situation is deteriorating, with nearly 47,000 people reported dead in the Gaza Strip over the past 15 months, according to the health authorities there.