Former Israeli hostage Rimon Kirsht was spotted giving one of her Hamas captors a piercing final stare during her release – prompting observers across the world to praise her spunky stoicism as “iconic” and that of “a hero.”
Rimon Kirsht, 36, was released from Hamas captivity on Tuesday as part of the latest round of 12 hostages who were let go as part of the extended ceasefire deal between the terror group and the Israeli government.
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.
The defiant moment quickly sparked a social media uproar, with Middle East analyst Eli Kowaz commenting on “that look Rimon Kirsht gave the Hamas terrorist” on X.
“Iconic,” another user replied to Kowaz’s post.
“Look at this Israeli hero giving defiance to a masked Hamas terrorist with a machine gun,” screenwriter Lee Kern added.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy also shared the clip, alongside the caption “Don’t mess with Jewish women.”
“Rimon Kirsht ,” Aviva Klompas, a former speechwriter at the Israeli mission to the United Nations, wrote alongside a picture of the exchange, with three fire emojis.
Klompas later shared more photos of Kirsht being reunited with her loved ones.
Kirsht spent 53 days in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip after she and her husband, 34-year-old Yagev Buchshtab, were abducted by Kibbutz Mirim on Oct. 7.
“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,’” Kirsht’s sister-in-law, Niham, Kirsht, told KCRA of the final moments before the couple was kidnapped by the terrorists.
“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,’ ” Nidam added.
As of Wednesday morning, Buchshtab is believed to still be in Hamas custody.
Earlier this month, Kirsht was one of the three hostages featured in a video filmed by Hamas that blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “screwing up” the Oct. 7. Attack.
Netanyahu, however, slammed the video as “cruel psychological propaganda.”