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cnn Anchor Christiane Amanpour said Monday she regretted making the claim Hamas Had “probably” dealt with Israelis hostages taken in gaza This is better than the average Gazan trying to explain the devastation the two-year-long conflict has caused to the region.
Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, issued a long statement After facing criticism on social media after explaining how live mortgageThose released Monday faced a different experience than the average person living there Gaza Because they were used as leverage.
“It’s been a terrible, terrible two years for them, because not only are they there – you know, they’re probably being treated better than the average Gazan, because they’re pawns and chips that Hamas Was,” Amanpur said.
His remarks were clipped and circulated online, leading some to attack him and even accuse him of favoring Hamas.
Amanpour said in his show, AmanpurAnd on
“I noted for hostages For those who finally come home, it will take a long time to recover mentally and physically. But I also regret to say that they may have been treated better than many Gazans because Hamas used these hostages as pawns and bargaining chips.
“It was insensitive and wrong.”
Amanpour said he had previously spoken to the hostages’ families and was “horrified by the way Hamas has treated them over two years.”
He added: “They have told me their stories of being barely able to breathe in the tunnels, not being allowed to cry, being starved and being forced to dig their own graves – and of course today, some of the hostages are coming back in body bags.”
Earlier, critics – including prominent Trump supporters – had expressed outrage at his comments:
“He’s actually a Hamas supporter,” Richard Grenell, Trump’s special envoy and head of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts wrote on X.
Grenell claimed, “You can feel how angry he is over Trump’s release of the hostages.” She also said she is “an activist who hates Republicans.”
Amanpour has been a broadcast news reporter for over 30 years, primarily covering international affairs, including conflict and war. She has been the center of other controversies over the years, including one in 2020 when she compared Trump administration for NazisHe later apologized for the comparison.
Omri Serene, Senior Advisor to Senator Ted Cruz, written on x Amanpour “sides with the genocidal Hamas terrorists.”
“Here she is trying to deal with her loss, and her cognitive output is stream of consciousness,” Seren said.
gerry callahanA radio host, who currently hosts a podcast on Newsmax, called Amanpour “one of the biggest fuckers in mainstream media.”
Internet personality and anti-Semitic activismt eyal yacoby said Amanpour’s comments were “absolutely unacceptable from CNN” and reminded people of Hostage Aviatar David was, “literally forced to dig his own grave.”
Amanpour’s comments Monday were drawn from his larger statement about how hostages like David can provide people with more context about conditions in Gaza.
He said israel Most journalists have been stopped Reporting on the impact of the war in Gaza, making it difficult for the world to understand how Gaza and the people living there have changed.
“I think certainly, people who start talking to hostages who have just been released will realize that it’s going to take them a very long time to recover, not only physically, but also mentally,” Amanpour said.
The CNN anchor acknowledged the brutality the hostages faced after being captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023. He recalled how many people were kept underground and also the “horror and terror” they had to endure of the war.
Twenty of the surviving hostages were freed on Monday and returned to israel To be reunited with their families and receive medical treatment. In return, israel hundreds were released Palestinians Kept in Israeli prisons.
This is the first phase of a ceasefire agreement brokered by President Donald Trump.