An Israeli woman who was freed after being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip implored President-Elect Donald Trump to secure the release of her loved ones and the other remaining hostages – describing what she called the “relentless daily torture” of captivity.
Sapir Cohen was kidnapped by the terror group from Kibbutz Nir Oz alongside her boyfriend, Sasha Troufanov, his mother and grandmother on Oct. 7, 2023.
The three women were released as part of the November 2023 hostage deals – but Troufanov is still in captivity.
“President-elect Trump, I congratulate you on your election victory. I’m begging you, ensure that rescuing these hostages remains a top priority,” Cohen told Trump this week, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“There are 101 hostages still being held captive by the Hamas terrorist organization, enduring relentless daily torture. Among them are seven American citizens who are denied their basic freedoms,” she added.
Cohen also described her own ordeal at the hands of Hamas. “I was released after 55 days in captivity of suffering and starvation. 55 days of constant fear of being raped,” she recalled.
“I stayed in tunnels under harsh conditions. I had to collect food scraps from the floor and sleep in the same room with 10 Hamas terrorists.
“I tried with all my strength to help the hostages who were with me – some of them don’t even know what happened to their family members, and these thoughts are killing them more and more each day.”
Eight of the hostages she met along the way are no longer alive.
“President-elect Trump, please, I’m pleading [with] you to maintain focus on the hostage crisis. They must not be forgotten. For each of them – women, men, elderly and two young children – any day could be their last. We must do everything in our power to bring them home now,” she insisted.
Cohen’s comments to Trump came days after another former hostage, Mia Shem, said the United Nations ”hasn’t lifted a finger” to help the remaining captives.
“For 50 days, I was kept alone, suffering from an unbearable pain in my hand, without any treatment. A Hamas terrorist sat in front of me in a dark room with a gun pointed at my head,” the dual Israeli-French citizen said at the Wednesday press conference. “Not a single humanitarian agency saw me or treated me even as my arm got worse.”
