Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed terrorist organization in Gaza, released a video Wednesday of Russian-Israeli hostage Sasha Trufanov, 29, apparently in an effort to pressure Israel to stop trying to rescue the hostages.
The Times of Israel noted:
It is unclear when the video was made. In the clip Trufanov says that he is aged 28; however, the video is released two days after he turned 29, his second birthday in captivity.
It is the third video the terror group has released of Trufanov.
Terror groups have previously issued similar videos of hostages in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.
In the video, Trufanov talks about how he lacks adequate food, water, sanitation, and medicine — a tactic that terror groups have used in other videos, even if it means admitting their cruelty, to create a sense of distress among Israelis.
He also says that the terrorists are protecting him from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and that he has become afraid of Israeli soldiers, lest he be killed in a rescue attempt.
Previous hostage videos have carried similar messages, all clearly recorded under duress, and aimed at deterring the IDF and destabilizing Israel’s government.
Update: A fourth video of Trufanov was released on Friday.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Photo: file