This is the incredible moment a ‘heroic’ Israeli hostage stared down a masked Hamas terrorist as she was finally released after 53 days of captivity.
Rimon Kirsht, 36, was among the fifth group of Israeli and foreign hostages returned to Israel on Tuesday under a fragile ceasefire agreement that is currently set to expire tomorrow morning.
International mediators are working to extend the ceasefire in Gaza, encouraging Hamas terrorists to continue releasing hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel’s air and ground offensive.
Last night, the Israeli military said that Hamas had handed over 12 Israeli and four Thai hostages on the sixth day of the temporary ceasefire.
As Ms. Kirsht was freed by her captors on Tuesday, she stood and stared at one of the balaclava-clad Hamas gunmen before cocking her head to the side and walking away with fellow hostage Merav Tal.
The act of defiance against the ruthless terrorists who slaughtered 1,200 people and returned 240 hostages to Gaza on October 7 was praised by social media users.
Rimon Kirsht, 36, was among the fifth group of Israeli and foreign hostages returned to Israel on Tuesday under a fragile ceasefire agreement that is currently set to expire tomorrow morning
As Ms. Kirsht was freed from her captors last night, she stood and stared at one of the balaclava-clad Hamas gunmen before cocking her head to the side and walking away with fellow hostage Merav Tal
Screenwriter Lee Kern said: “Watch this Israeli hero stand up to a masked terrorist with a machine gun.”
Tammy Rahamimoff-Honig, who works for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, added: “Rimon Kirsht is the new definition of defiance.”
Others praised her as “courageous” and courageous, while another user wrote: “That took courage, especially with the cheering crowd and masked Hamas terrorists.”
Ms Kirsht, 36, was abducted from her home in Nirim and taken along with her partner Yagev Buchstab, 34, who has not yet been released.
The frightened woman sent a voice message to her mother around 8:30 a.m. on October 7, a relative told the media. The message ended with the sounds of terrorists screaming and gunfire.
Hours later, when Israeli security forces asked residents of the community to gather, Ms. Kirsht and Mr. Buchstab were missing and their home was empty.
Kirsht, an animal lover and alternative medicine expert, appeared in a video released by Hamas on October 30, showing her alongside Danielle Aloni – who was released on Friday – and another hostage, Yelena Trupanov, who was not released.
Among the hostages released on Tuesday were Gabriela Leimberg, 59, and her daughter Mia, 17, who was filmed clutching her dog Bella as she was flanked by Hamas fighters.
Ms Kirsht, 36, was abducted from her home in Nirim and taken along with her partner Yagev Buchstab, 34, who has not yet been released
Kirsht, an animal lover and alternative medicine expert, appeared in a video released by Hamas on October 30, showing her alongside Danielle Aloni – who was released on Friday – and another hostage, Yelena Trupanov, who was not released
The frightened woman sent a voice message to her mother around 8:30 a.m. on October 7, a relative told the media
Rimon Kirsht was part of the fifth group released last night. Pictured: A teenage hostage clutches her dog, a Shih Tzu named Bella, as she is flanked by Hamas gunmen as she is released
Hamas fighters accompany newly released hostages before handing them over to the Red Cross in Rafah
The fifth group of hostages reportedly included nine women and a child
Family members arrive at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv district, as hostages are expected to be released as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel
Mia’s aunt Clara Merman, 63, Argentina-born Ofelia Roitman, 77, Ditza Herman, 84, Tamar Metzger, 78, Merav Tal, 53, Philippines-born Noralin Babdilla, 60, and Ada Sagi, 75, her British son Noam was born They were also released because they campaigned for their release in Israel and London.
Images showed the prisoners being escorted into the Gaza Strip by armed Hamas terrorists as they prepared to hand them over to the Red Cross and Israel, with crowds gathering around them filming and cheering.
Last night, ten Israeli and four Thai hostages were returned to Israel, according to Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman.
The names of the 10 Israeli hostages released under the ceasefire agreement are as follows: Liat Atzili, 49, Yarden Roman Gat, 36, Raz Ben Ami, 57, Raaya Rotem, 54, Liam Or, 18, Ofir Engel, 17 , Amit Shani, 16, Gali Tarshanksy, 13, Moran Stela Yanai, 40, and Itai Regev, 18.
Two Russian-Israeli women were also released by Hamas on Wednesday, the military said.
The spokesman said that in return, 30 Palestinians, including 16 children and 14 women, would be released from Israeli prisons.
Hours later, Hamas sparked outrage after claiming without evidence that 10-month-old baby Kfir Bibas, his brother Ariel and his mother Shiri had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Kfir Bibas’ family expressed hope that the claim that he was killed along with his brother and mother in an airstrike was a lie.
The IDF, which called Hamas “cruel and inhumane,” said it had spoken to Bibas’ family about the claims, which came amid last-minute negotiations to extend the ceasefire between the two sides.
If Hamas’ claims turn out to be untrue, it would be yet another example of the cruel mind games the terrorists have been playing since their barbaric attack on Israel.
Palestinians are battling the cold weather with limited resources and in difficult conditions
Palestinians rode a motorcycle past a destroyed building in Gaza City on Wednesday
Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in Gaza City on Wednesday, the sixth day of a fragile ceasefire
Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and said it will maintain the ceasefire if Hamas continues to release prisoners.
Israel has agreed to extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 militant hostages released. The ceasefire, originally set to expire on Monday, has paused the deadliest fighting between Israel and Palestinians in decades.
However, Israel has vowed to restart the war to end Hamas’s 16-year rule over Gaza, but faces growing international pressure to extend the ceasefire and save southern Gaza from a devastating ground offensive like it destroyed much of the northern Gaza Strip.
Hamas’s ability to negotiate and implement the ceasefire suggests that Israel’s air and ground campaigns have not seriously challenged the group’s control over Gaza, despite killing thousands of Palestinians and forcing three out of four people in the territory from their homes became.
Those released now face a long road to overcoming the trauma of their long captivity in Gaza.
The father of Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli held hostage by Hamas for 50 days, has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to help his nine-year-old daughter recover after revealing how she had spent her ninth birthday fleeing rocket strikes in Gaza.
Four days after his daughter’s emotional release, Mr Hand told The Sun: “She was a happy, loud child, now she’s whispering.” She was terrorized in hell by terrorists, but as her father it’s my job to make sure “That it will get better, and that’s what I’m going to do.”