Former hostages Sapir Cohen and Sasha Troufanov got married.

Captivity survivors Sasha Troufanov and Sapir Cohen were married on Sunday evening, one year after Sasha proposed, beginning a new and deeply moving chapter in their lives. The celebration was attended by several survivors of captivity, as well as President Isaac Herzog and retired Major General Nitzan Alon, the former head of the Hostages Directorate. “I want to thank you for coming today to share this joy with us, this evening and this emotional moment. You have been with us throughout the entire journey. Thank you so much. I love you,” Sasha said under the chuppah.

Among the captivity survivors who came to celebrate were Arbel Yehud and Ariel Cunio, Shani Goren, Moran Stella Yanai, Rom Braslavski, Eitan Horn and Daniel Aloni.

President Isaac Herzog, who attended the wedding together with his wife, Michal, said under the chuppah that he had once declared he would not attend any weddings until all the hostages had returned.

Sasha proposed to Sapir a year ago, five months after he was freed from captivity, following 498 days in Gaza. Cohen was abducted alongside him from his family’s home in Nir Oz. She was released in the November 2023 hostage deal together with Sasha’s mother, Yelena, and his grandmother, Irena.

Troufanov immigrated to Israel with his parents at the age of three. He studied electrical engineering at Ben Gurion University, and after completing his degree moved to central Israel and began working at Amazon. On the weekend of October 7, he and Sapir came to visit his parents at the kibbutz. Sasha’s father, Vitaly, was murdered on Saturday, October 7.

Following his release, Troufanov spoke in a series of interviews about the severe hardships he endured at the hands of Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorists. He said that when he first arrived in the Gaza Strip, he was beaten by Palestinian civilians and feared he would be killed.

During the first weeks, he was held above ground in a cage. He was later moved into the tunnels, where he spent most of his time completely alone, under harsh conditions that included darkness, overcrowding and deprivation. He described a prolonged sense of losing hope, while saying he continued to cling to the hope of returning to Israel and being reunited with his family and his partner.

Sapir was born and raised in Kiryat Ata. Her parents, Ziva and Eli, and her three brothers, Aviv, Barak and Eden, worked tirelessly for her release throughout her time in captivity.