Sarah McMillan/cvnznews.com
Two former hostages who were abducted together into the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, were married on Sunday in a ceremony attended by captivity survivors and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
“We prayed for your return, we were moved to tears when you came back home, and this evening we were privileged to rejoice together with you and to bless you under the chuppah [wedding canopy] on your joyous day,” tweeted Herzog, congratulating Sapir Cohen and Alexander (“Sasha”) Troufanov.
“May you merit building together a home filled with love, light, and joy!” the president added.
The couple was kidnapped by terrorists from Gaza who infiltrated the Troufanov’s family home in Kibbutz Nir Oz in the northwestern Negev.
A friend who spent time in captivity with the groom congratulated the newlyweds, saying, “You aren’t a pair of lovebirds, you are a pair of warriors.”
Cohen was released in November 2023. Troufanov was freed in February 2025, after spending 498 days in captivity.
He proposed to Cohen five months after his release.
התפללנו לשובכם, התרגשנו עד דמעות כשחזרתם הביתה, והערב זכינו לשמוח יחד איתכם ולברך אתכם תחת החופה ביום שמחתכם.
מזל טוב סשה וספיר. שתזכו לבנות יחד בית מלא באהבה, באור ובשמחה! pic.twitter.com/6GviDUjTWH— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog)July 5, 2026
Rom Braslavski, who was held together with Troufanov by the Islamic Jihad terrorist group in Rafah for a short period after a year in captivity, posted photos on Facebook of the two men at Troufanov’s wedding, held in Even Yehuda, southeast of Netanya.
He wrote in Hebrew, “How incredible that events unfolded the way they did—that instead of the two of us being together in some filthy room with rats in Rafah, we’re standing beneath your chuppah as you marry the love of your life, who was abducted alongside you. And now you’re marrying her. You aren’t a pair of lovebirds; you are a pair of warriors. And I admire you both.”
He added, “Nothing makes me happier than being by your side on this day. I wish you a home filled with happy little children who will never know evil, who will never know war, God willing.”
