CNN under fire for a shocking mistake when reporting on Israel’s daring rescue of four hostages from Hamas
CNN has come under fire for its language in its coverage of the rescue of four hostages held by Hamas since October during a raid on Gaza on Saturday.
During an interview discussing the hostage rescue operation, a headline appeared on the screen stating that the hostages had been “released” instead of “rescued.”
On air, newsreader Victor Blackwell interviewed Ian Bbraker of the Eurasia Group – although neither man used the word “release” in their discussion.
Critics quickly pounced on the news network, claiming they had completely misunderstood the angle of the story — at least on screen.
Their point was that Hamas had not voluntarily ‘released’ the hostages and that the Israeli army had actually rescued them.
IDF operatives were able to secure the four hostages in what military leaders called a “complex daytime operation.”
CNN has come under fire for its language in its coverage of the rescue of four hostages held by Hamas since October during a raid on Gaza on Saturday. CNN said they had been “released.”
IDF operatives were able to secure the four hostages in what military leaders called a “complex daytime operation.”
Critics quickly pounced on the news network, claiming they had completely misunderstood the angle of the story – at least on screen
“Come on @CNN, the four hostages were rescued and not released. Do better,” the account StopAntisemitism tweeted.
Another critic, Yaari Cohen, an Israeli student, called the chyron “disgusting” and added that the network “should be ashamed of itself.”
“Hamas did not ‘release’ these hostages, the IDF rescued them after Hamas held them for eight months!!” Cohen wrote about X.
“Yes, they were released after the IDF killed approximately 24 Hamas terrorists who were guarding the hostages,” Chief Woodman wrote.
‘What is this CNN? Hostages were rescued, they were not released. This is an important distinction,” another user argued.
‘CNN is fake news. The terrorists did not ‘release’ the hostages, they were rescued. Can’t you ever just tell the truth,” one X poster agreed.
“CNN is so happy that Israeli commanders have released the hostages from the terrorists who held them. I wondered why no one trusts the media anymore, such a mystery.’
Israel named the rescued hostages as Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41.
They were taken to hospital for medical check-ups and were in good health, the army said.
Later on Saturday evening, video footage showed Meir Jan celebrating with his friends after his rescue earlier on Saturday.
There were scenes of euphoria as he was reunited with them for the first time in more than eight months.
Noa Argamani, then 25, was seen being kidnapped on the back of a motorbike during the horrific terrorist attacks last October
Noa laughs as she drinks a Coke with her father Yakov after being reunited on Saturday
Among the rescued hostages Andrey Kozlov (photo), 27, a Russian who moved to Israel in 2022. He was working as a security guard at the Nova Festival when he was kidnapped
Rescued hostage Almog Meir Jan reacts after making it out of central Gaza Strip alive after being rescued by mission soldiers on Saturday
“He’s one of us, and we won’t give him up!” the group sang as they danced in a circle around him while embracing him with hugs and kisses.
All four hostages rescued on Saturday were all abducted from the Nova music festival during the deadly attack by Hamas-led Palestinian militants on Israeli towns and villages near Gaza on October 7, which launched the devastating war.
The hostage rescue operation and an intense accompanying airstrike took place in al-Nuseirat in central Gaza, a densely built-up and often contested area in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the ruling Islamist group in the Palestinian territory.
During the mission, one officer Arnon Zmora (photo) was killed after the rescue operation
An Israeli military spokesman said the operation took place in the heart of a residential area in Nuseirat, where Hamas had been holding the hostages in two separate apartment buildings.
Israeli forces came under heavy fire during the attack and responded by firing “from the air and from the streets,” the spokesman, Admiral Daniel Hagari, said.
‘There are fewer than 100 known (Palestinian) victims. I don’t know how many of them are terrorists,” he said in a briefing with journalists. An Israeli Special Forces commander was killed during the operation, a police statement said.
Paramedics and Gaza residents said the attack killed dozens of people and left mutilated bodies of men, women and children in a marketplace and a mosque.
The mission also left one officer, father of two, Arnon Zmora, 36, dead – ‘fatally wounded’ during the firefight with Hamas terrorists.
Israeli News 12 broadcast images of Argamani being reunited with her father, smiling and hugging him. Video of Argamani’s kidnapping, in which she screams, “Don’t kill me!” when she was driven into Gaza on a motorcycle, dispersed shortly after she was taken on October 7.
Footage released by the president’s office showed a smiling Argamani speaking by phone to Israeli President Isaac Herzog from the hospital, surrounded by family and friends.
People wave Israeli flags as they celebrate after hostages kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on October 7 were rescued from the Gaza Strip
President Joe Biden addressed the press in Paris on Saturday. But instead of a press conference, officials said the event was a “press release” with no questions asked
“Thank you for everything, thank you for this moment,” she said.
“I’m so excited to hear your voice, it brings tears to my eyes… Welcome home,” Herzog said.
US President Joe Biden welcomed the return of the four Israeli hostages rescued in Gaza.
“We will not stop working until all hostages come home and a ceasefire is reached,” Biden said at a news conference in Paris alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.