498 Days in Captivity: Sasha Trupanov Reveals What Gave Him Strength

Former hostage Sasha Trupanov opened up last week about the profound change he experienced during his 498 days in captivity in Gaza, describing the moment when a new perspective on faith and fear transformed the way he faced his ordeal.

Trupanov appeared alongside his wife, fellow captivity survivor Sapir Cohen, in the first episode of Thirsty Souls, hosted by Eden Harel on Israel’s Channel 14. During the emotional conversation, he spoke candidly about arriving in captivity without the inner tools he felt he needed to cope with what was happening.

“When I found myself in the situation of October 7, I didn’t have the tools to deal with this challenge,” Trupanov said.

He had been abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz while seriously wounded, with gunshot wounds to his legs and a bleeding head. The extreme physical conditions forced him to confront a reality over which he had virtually no control.

Yet Trupanov says it was precisely this realization that eventually changed the way he thought.

“The terrible physical condition actually led me to a better mental way of thinking,” he explained. “To the understanding that I could not choose my fate.”

The Moment Something “Switched”

Trupanov recalled an especially difficult period after what he described as “hell” in Khan Younis, where he said he nearly died. He was subsequently moved and confined in a small cage, a dramatic reduction in even the limited freedom of movement he had previously been allowed.

“Before that, I was still with the terrorists, and they allowed me to move around in a small space,” he recalled. “Suddenly, I was in a tiny cage, and it was not a pleasant situation. You say to yourself, ‘How did this happen?’”

Rather than allowing himself to become consumed by what was happening around him, Trupanov began trying to change the way he understood his circumstances.

“I said, ‘You know not to look at things in a simple way. Try to disconnect from the thought of what is happening right now and understand that this is a way to build yourself into a better person.’”

He says that after about half an hour alone with his thoughts, something changed.

“Something switched in my head,” he recalled. “The terrorists no longer scared me as much, and the fear of what was to come no longer mattered to me.”

His thoughts turned toward Hashem and the realization that his ultimate fate was beyond his control.

“I simply thought, ‘If Hashem gives you this life, then you’ve won. And if not, you had 27 good years and a few bad months. Everything is okay.’”

For Trupanov, that shift did not change the reality surrounding him. He was still wounded, imprisoned, and uncertain whether he would survive. But in his telling, it changed the way he was able to face that reality.

The former hostage has spoken previously about the spiritual journey that began during captivity and continued after his release. In last week’s interview, however, he offered a particularly striking glimpse into the moment when fear began to give way to emunah—and when accepting what he could not control gave him a new source of strength.