[Regnum] On November 13, the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) published a video message from Russian citizen Alexander Trufanov, who was taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
He reported that he had been held captive for a whole year with little water or food.
“I want to remind the citizens of Israel: every time you eat or drink something, remember about us, the prisoners, that we do not have the opportunity to enjoy food and water,” Ynet quoted Trufanov as saying.
He also said that when Israel attacks civilians in Gaza, those who are in captivity also suffer. He called on the Israelis to do everything possible to ensure that the prisoners can return home. The Russian stressed that he really wants to return to his homeland.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, while in Moscow at the end of October, the deputy head of the political bureau of the Palestinian movement Hamas, Musa Abu Marzuk, announced his readiness to release Trufanov and Ukrainian and Russian citizen Maksim Kharkin.
As Marzuk explained, the Russian leadership had previously asked for the release of four of its citizens and two had already been released, as they were civilians. The other two, Trufanov and Kharkin, served in the Israeli army.
Russian citizen Trufanov also has an Israeli passport. He was captured by the Palestinians during the fighting. Marzouk said that he would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Ukrainian Harkin also served in the Israeli army and did not have Russian citizenship at the time of his capture by Hamas. His relatives obtained Russian citizenship to speed up his release.