The humanitarian act of the century

Putin met with the Israelis freed from captivity Hamas, and called for thanking the group. The words "captivity", however, avoided in every possible way

Vladimir Putin met with the Israelis, former hostages of Hamas Alexander Trufanov, his mother Elena and bride Sapir Cohen. With them, he thanked the militants for the humanitarian act.

On the morning of October 7, 2023, Palestinian militants burst into the Nir-Oz settlement border with the Gaza sector and stole 28-year-old Alexander Trufanov, shooting both legs. The terrorists also captured his bride Sapir Cohen, mother Elena Trufanov and grandmother-a doctor from Rostov-on-Don Irina Tatti. The father of Alexander and the husband of Elena - Vitaly Trufanov - was killed on the same day. Alexander found out about this only after liberation from captivity. The militants freed women from the gas sector 52 days after the capture. Alexander spent in hostages at the Islamic Jihad terrorist group for 498 days. Read more about what the meeting of the Israelis with Putin means and how the Russian authorities are trying to demonstrate influence in the Middle East - in the material of the Novaya Gazeta Europe.

Vladimir Putin met in Moscow with Alexander Trufanov, his mother Elena and bride Sapir Cohen, who were captured by the Palestinian Hamas group.

“The fact that you managed to be free is the result of the fact that Russia has a stable perennial relations with the Palestinian people, with its representatives, and a variety of organizations.

And, I think, it is necessary to express the words of gratitude to the leadership, the political wing of Hamas for going to meet us and committed this act, a humanitarian act, you were released, ”Putin said.

He warned that "in no case does not want to give political assessments to those events that take place." During the meeting, Putin did not utter the words “hostages” and “captivity”, choosing “neat” expressions, like: “The position in which you were.”

Having mentioned the death of his father, Alexander Vitaly Trufanov, Putin said that this is "a tragedy, which now, probably, should not be discussed."

The Trufanovs thanked Putin for help in liberation and called for continuing efforts to return other hostages. “We will definitely work,” Putin answered.

Elena Trufanova said that her grandmother was captured by the Nazis during the Second World War: “That is, Sasha is already the fourth generation of our family, which is captured. I hope that this is where our captive story will end. ” The woman more than once thanked the Russian authorities for help in the liberation of herself and her relatives.

On April 8, at the Moscow Hotel Marriott Imperial Plaza, a reception took place in honor of the liberation of Alexander Trufanov from Plen Khamas. Dinner was organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (Feor) and timed to the birthday of the Lyubavich Rebbe Menacham-Mendla Schneerson (April 18, 1902-June 12, 1994). Trufanov came to the event with his mother and bride.

“I know that the government, Putin and many others made a lot of efforts to free me ... I don’t know exactly how much this influenced [the release], but I want to say many thanks for what they did, tried to move the matter from a dead point. I am sure that in the end this played a role in my release. Therefore, I am standing here today, ”Trufanov told reporters after admission.

The reception was attended by the main rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar and President Feor Alexander Borod.

The latter said that the Jewish community is very glad to see Trufanov in Russia.

“Sasha is a citizen of Russia, he is a citizen of Israel , he is certainly a member of our Jewish community. We rejoice at his liberation that he is alive, that he is well, that he reunited with his family, with his bride, ”the beard shared, adding that the community is worried about all the hostages that are still in captivity.

The Israeli political scientist, the author of the telegram channel about Israel, Mikhail Pellvert explained in the commentary of Novy-Europe, how the inhabitants of the country relate to such meetings of the liberated hostages:

- In Israel, it is not customary to criticize the hostages who returned home after hundreds of days spent in captivity. Elena Trufanova quite consistently claims that the liberation of her and her mother became possible thanks to the efforts of Russia and President Putin personally. From the point of view of most Israelis, any action of any country that leads to the release of hostages should be welcome.

At the same time, it is clear that Israel understands this hypocritical, very two -faced policy of Russia, which, on the one hand, spreads the red carpet before the leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian radical organizations that are directly responsible for the events of October 7. And Russia thanks them for the “humanitarian act” of the release of prisoners. In principle, this is still a big question: whether the Trufanov family was released thanks to the efforts of Russia or within the framework of the lists that Israel and Hamas have agreed on, says the political scientist.

Elena Trufanova and Irina Tatti were released at the end of November 2023. Then, between Hamas and Israel, the first agreement was concluded on a temporary ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. The media reported that women were released outside this deal.

- One way or another, in Israel they welcome any help, any assistance in the release of hostages. Oddly enough, many Israelis believe that Russia has levers of influence on Palestinian organizations and that as a result, Hamas can lead to softening the position of Hamas. As a rule, such an opinion is shared by people who receive information from Russian [state] media. In Israel, there are enough Russian -speaking Israelis, for which Russian television channels are the main source of information.

It is clear that Putin's meeting with the Trufanov family pursued primarily domestic political goals. This desire to demonstrate primarily to Russian citizens that Russia plays a constructive role in the Middle East, that Russia can talk with all participants in this conflict. Which to some extent corresponds to reality. But the big question is whether such meetings lead to some softening of the positions of radical groups or, conversely, they, feeling Russian support, tighten their positions. In any case, as a result of this meeting, a certain number of people will believe that Russia is still the successor of the Soviet Union in the sense that it has a great influence on the events in the Middle East. I would like to talk not only about the liberation of the Trufanov family, but also that this leads to the liberation of other hostages:

59 people are still captured in the gas sector. But it is unlikely, with all the respect of Hamas for Vladimir Putin, we will soon see some softening of the position of this radical terrorist organization.

Hamas freed Alexander Trufanov and two more Israelis on February 15 as part of an agreement with Israel on the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Before the release, all three were taken to the “scene” and forced to make a short speech.

Just a few hours after the release, the Russian ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov met with Trufanov in the hospital and immediately handed him a new Russian passport in return for the expired. In early February, during a visit to Moscow, the deputy head of the Politburo Hamas Musa Abu Marzuk promised the Russian authorities that Trufanov would be released "in the near future."

Trufanov said that he had practically no access to information in captivity, so he did not know if someone was fighting for his release. In May and November 2024, the Islamic Jihad organization published several videos with a man.

Before the abduction of Trufanov, he worked in an electrical engineer at Amazon Web Services. Since October 7, 2023, the American company did not say anything about the hostage, but after its release, Amazon CEO Andy Jesseinformed the employees that he was “incredibly happy” to the liberation of Trufanov from captivity and that Amazon did not publicly make efforts to help the family. Jesse explained that the company did not want to give media comments, afraid to have a negative impact on the situation.

Like many other former hostages, Trufanov actively attracts the attention of the public and politicians of different countries to the fate of those who are still held by militants in the Gaza Strip.

Already on February 22, he came to the "hostage" area in Tel Aviv, where rallies are regularly held, calling for the return of the Israelis from captivity.

Alexander Trufanov separately recorded the video in support of another hostage, which he met in the Gaza Strip, - Roma Braslavsky. The other day, Islamic Jihad published a video indicating that the 20-year-old Israeli is alive. His mother, Tami Braslavski, called what was happening "shame for the state of Israel." “I don't even recognize my son. He was old for ten years. This is not my rum. He looks terrible, ”she said after watching the video.

A native of Donbass, 36-year-old Maxim Kharkin, also remains hostage in the gas sector. At the time of capture, he did not have Russian citizenship. His family issued a Russian passport for him so that Moscow could help with his release. The daughter of an Israeli was born and lives in Russia, the ambassador of Israel to Russia Simon Galperin reported .

The deputy head of the Politburo Hamas Musa Abu Marzuk previously told RIA Novosti that the group was considering Kharkina as a prisoner of war. Therefore, he was not included in the list of released hostages during the first stage of the agreement between Israel and Hamas , which was implemented from mid -January to the end of February. In February, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Moscow would continue to achieve the speedy return of Kharkin from the Gaza sector.