The terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a video on Tuesday showing Sasha Troufanov, a 28-year-old Amazon employee who was abducted in October along with his mother Lena, grandmother Irina, and girlfriend Sapir from their home at Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel. Israel Hayom has decided not to share the footage. Lena, Irina, and Sapir were freed after 54 days in captivity, but Sasha remains held in the Gaza Strip. The Troufanov family immigrated to Israel from Russia about 25 years ago and settled in Nir Oz. Sasha, their only child, moved to Ramat Gan with his girlfriend Sapir. On Oct. 7, the couple was visiting his family when they were abducted to Gaza.
With no close relatives in Israel to share their story, Sasha's friends have taken the lead in advocating for his release. His father, Vitaly, was killed years ago. The video is the latest psychological warfare tactic used by the terrorists since the latest conflict began. Over the weekend, Hamas falsely claimed to have lured soldiers into a tunnel to capture them.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman recently defended Amazon after the tech giant faced criticism for not publicly addressing the abduction of one of its Israeli employees by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. While Amazon employees in Israel have held solidarity events for Trufanov and expressed frustration over management's silence, Ackman reasoned on social media that the company likely believes making public statements would be "harmful rather than helpful" to efforts to secure his release. Ackman, describing Amazon as "responsible and ethical," suggested the company has chosen not to discuss the hostage situation openly based on an assessment that doing so could negatively impact the sensitive negotiations.
