The Islamic Jihad terror group on Friday published an additional video of hostage Alexander (Sasha) Trufanov.
In the video, Trufanov turns to Shas chief Aryeh Deri, calling on him to act for his release, in accordance with the halakhic (pertaining to Jewish law) ruling issued by former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, of blessed memory.
In his ruling, Rabbi Yosef instructed: "The mitzvah (Torah commandment) of releasing hostages - there is nothing more lofty than that."
In the text, which seems to have been written by Trufanov's captors, is a message to Deri: "Do not allow [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the government to abandon us and steal our lives. Please, do not let them decide that our fate is to die here in the darkness of the tunnels in Gaza, without being buried in the Land of Israel."
The video clip is the second to be released this week: On Wednesday, Islamic Jihad published a video of Trufanov, marking the third sign of life from the hostage since he was kidnapped from his parents home in Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre.