CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour said Monday she regretted claiming Hamas had “probably” treated Israeli hostages held in Gaza better than the average Gazan while trying to articulate the devastation the region faces from the two-year-long conflict.
Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent, released a lengthy statement after drawing criticism on social media after explaining how living hostages, who were freed Monday, survived a different experience from the average person living in 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 are the pawns and the chips that Hamas had,” Amanpour said.
Her comment was clipped and circulated online, leading some to lash out at her and even accusing her of siding with Hamas.
Amanpour said on her show, Amanpour, and on X, “Earlier live on air, I spoke about what a day of real joy this is, for Israeli families whose loved ones are finally being returned from two years of horrific Hamas captivity, and for civilians in Gaza, who have finally had a reprieve from two years of brutal, deadly war.
“I noted that for the hostages who are finally home, it will take a long time for them to recover mentally and physically. But I regret also saying 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 that she had previously spoken to the families of hostages and had been “horrified at what Hamas has subjected them to over two long years.”
She added: “They’ve told me their stories of barely being able to breathe in the tunnels, not being allowed to cry, being starved and made 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 her comments:
“She’s literally pro-Hamas,” Richard Grenell, Trump’s special envoy and head of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, wrote on X.
“You can feel how mad she is with the release of hostages by Trump,” Grenell claimed, adding that she is a “Republican hating activist.”
Amanpour has been a broadcast news reporter for more than 30 years, mainly covering international affairs, including conflicts and wars. She has been the center of other controversies over the years, including one in 2020 when she compared the Trump administration to the Nazis. She later apologized for making the comparison.
Omri Ceren, a senior adviser to Senator Ted Cruz, wrote on X that Amanpour is “on the side of genocidal Hamas terrorists.”
“Here she’s trying to cope with them losing, and her cognitive output is stream of consciousness,” Ceren said.
Gerry Callahan, a radio host who currently hosts a podcast on Newsmax, called Amanpour “one of the biggest pieces of s*** in the mainstream media.”
Internet personality and antisemitism activist Eyal Yakoby said Amanpour’s comment was “absolutely unacceptable from CNN” and reminded people that hostage Evyatar David, “was quite literally forced to dig his own grave.”
Amanpour’s comment from Monday was taken from her larger statement about how hostages, such as David, can provide more context for people about the conditions in Gaza.
She said Israel has prevented most journalists from reporting on the impact of the war in Gaza, which has made it difficult for the world to understand how Gaza and the people who live there have been changed.
“I think for sure, people who start to talk to the hostages who have only just been released, will find that it will take a long, long time for them to recover physically, but also mentally,” Amanpour said.
The CNN correspondent did recognize the brutality that hostages faced after they were taken captive on October 7, 2023, by Hamas. She recalled how many were kept underground while also being subjected to the “horror and terror” of the war.
Twenty of the living hostages were freed Monday and returned to Israel to be reunited with their families and receive medical treatment. In return, Israel released hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
It is phase one of the ceasefire deal brokered by President Donald Trump.
