A freed Israeli hostage is being praised for delivering what’s being called a “death stare” to the Hamas terrorist who released her Tuesday.
“[Hostage] Rimon Kirsht was spotted giving one of her Hamas captors a final piercing stare during her release — prompting observers across the world to praise her spunky stoicism as ‘iconic’ and that of ‘a hero,'” the New York Post reported Wednesday.
“At the moment of her release, Kirsht stared down one of the armed Hamas captors before cocking her head and walking away with her arm around fellow hostage Merav Tal, footage showed,” according to the Post.
Watch the footage below:
The woman at 33 seconds is Rimon Kirsht. That took guts particularly with the jeering crowd & the masked Hamas terrorists pic.twitter.com/N6isxKKVXS
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) November 29, 2023
The clip has since gone uber viral, attracting with it untold praise for Kirsht.
“Look at this Israeli hero giving defiance to a masked Hamas terrorist with a machine gun,” screenwriter Lee Kern wrote on X.
“Don’t mess with Jewish women,” Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy likewise wrote.
Kirsht reportedly spent 53 days in Hamas’ custody in the Gaza Strip after she and her husband, 34-year-old Yagev Buchshtab, were kidnapped during the Oct. 7th terror attack on Israel.
“She continued to text us and to let us know what was going on with her, and then finally she says, you know, ‘I smell fire. I hear a blast. They are breaking in,’” her sister-in-law, Niham Kirsht, recalled to station KCRA of the time her sister was abducted.
“And she sent a last voicemail to her mother, and she says, ‘I love you so much. I’m so sorry I can’t be there with you,'” Niham added.
Rimon Kirsht pic.twitter.com/jP6HKeRw2j
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) November 28, 2023
It’s believed that Kirsht’s husband still remains in the custody of Hamas.
Her release comes weeks after Hamas used her and two other women to record a propaganda video attacking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin and blaming him for the Oct. 7th terror attack.
“The video shows three woman – identified by Netanyahu as Yelena Trupanob, Danielle Aloni and Rimon Kirsht – sitting side by side against a bare wall, with Aloni addressing an angry message to the prime minister,” Reuters reported at the time.
“Accusing Netanyahu of failing to protect Israeli citizens during the deadly Hamas attack and failing to get them back home, she called for an agreement to secure their release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners,” according to Reuters.
“You were supposed to free all of us. You committed to free us all. But instead we are carrying your political, security, military, diplomatic failure,” Aloni said on behalf of all three women — on the orders of Hamas, of course.
Among released hostages is Danielle Aloni, you may remember her from this video published by Hamas few weeks ago. She is in the middle. Destiny and whereabouts of two other hostages who were held with her and appear in the video (Elena Trupanov and Rimon Kirsht) are still unknown pic.twitter.com/Q3Pix0cIWH
— Michael Elgort (@just_whatever) November 24, 2023
Netanyahu for his part ignored the forced message and pledged to bring the hostages back home.
“Abducted by Hamas, which is committing war crimes, I embrace you. Our hearts are with you and with the other captives. We are doing everything to bring home all the captives and the missing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aloni’s father, Ramos Aloni, reportedly said that his shocked but relieved heart almost stopped when he saw her in the video.
“Until today we did not know any confirmed information about her,” he reportedly told reporters.
Kirsht’s mother, Avital, likewise vowed that she’d do everything in her power to bring her daughter home.
“I don’t wish on any mother to have to go through what we are going through for the past 24 days. I saw the video today and I am worried. Rimon was without eyeglasses. For 24 days she cannot see. She needs glasses,” she said.
Aloni for her part was already released slightly earlier this month.
These are Emilia and Danielle Aloni, two of the hostages released from Gaza today. A photo taken in happier times. pic.twitter.com/NW1mVErnmG
— Uri Kurlianchik (@VerminusM) November 24, 2023
“Crowds come out to welcome Danielle Aloni and her five-year-old daughter Emilia as they come home after they were held hostage in the Gaza Strip for 49 days. People line the street, waving Israeli flags and cheering, while a sound system blasts out the song ‘I’m coming home’ as the convoy approaches,” The Times of Israel reported on Sunday, Nov. 26th.
“The two were released Friday as part of the first group of hostages freed by the Hamas terror group. They were visiting Danielle’s sister and her family at Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 when they were kidnapped during the onslaught,” the paper added.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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