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3 months ago
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CNN has come under fire for its use of language in its reporting of the rescue of four hostages held by Hamas since October, in a raid in Gaza on Saturday.
During an interview discussing the hostage rescue operation a headline appeared on the screen stating the hostages had been 'released' as opposed to having been 'rescued'.
On-air, news anchor Victor Blackwell was interviewing Ian Bremmer of Eurasia Group - although neither of the men used the word 'release' in their discussion.
Critics quickly pounced on the news network, claiming they had got the angle of the story completely wrong - at least on screen.
Their point being that Hamas had not willingly 'released' the hostages and that the Israel Defense Forces had actually rescued them.
IDF operatives were able to secure the four hostages in what military chiefs branded a 'complex daytime operation'.
CNN has come under fire for its use of language in its reporting of the rescue of four hostages held by Hamas since October, in a raid in Gaza on Saturday. CNN said they were 'released'
IDF operatives were able to secure the four hostages in what military chiefs branded a 'complex daytime operation'
Critics quickly pounced on the news network, claiming they had got the angle of the story completely wrong - at least on screen
'Come on @CNN the four hostages were RESCUED not released. Do better,' tweeted the account StopAntisemitism.
Another critic, Yaari Cohen, an Israeli student branded the chyron 'disgusting' adding the network 'should be ashamed.'
'Hamas didn't 'release' these Hostages, the IDF rescued them after Hamas held them for 8 months!!' Cohen wrote on X.
'Yeah, they were released after the IDF killed about 24 Hamas Terrorists That were guarding the hostages', wrote Chief Woodman.
'What is this CNN? Hostages were rescued, they were not released. This is an important distinction,' argued another user.
'CNN is fake news. The terrorists didn't 'release' the hostages, they were rescued. Can't you guys ever just say the truth', agreed one X poster.
'CNN so glad that Israeli commanders released the hostages from the terrorists holding 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 checks and were in good health, the military 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 motorbike during the horrifying terrorist attacks last October
Noa smiles while having a drink of Coke with her father Yakov after being reunited on Saturday
Among the hostages rescued Andrey Kozlov (pictured), 27, a Russian who moved to Israel in 2022. He had been working as a security guard at the Nova festival when he was kidnapped
Rescued hostage Almog Meir Jan reacts after emerging alive from the central Gaza Strip after he was rescued by soldiers in the mission on Saturday
'He is one of us, and we won't give him up!' the group chanted as they danced in a circle around him while smothering him with hugs and kisses.
All four of the hostages rescued on Saturday were all kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the deadly raid by Hamas-led Palestinian militants on Israeli towns and villages near Gaza on October 7, which precipitated the devastating war.
The hostage rescue operation and an intense accompanying air assault took place in central Gaza's al-Nuseirat, a densely built-up and often embattled area in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian territory's ruling Islamist group.
The mission left one officer Arnon Zmora (pictured) dead after the rescue operation
An Israeli military spokesperson said the operation took place in the heart of a residential neighborhood in Nuseirat where Hamas had kept the hostages in two separate apartment blocks.
Israel's forces came under intense fire during the assault and responded by firing 'from the air and from the street,' the spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said.
'We know about under 100 (Palestinian) casualties. I don't know how many from them are terrorists,' he said in a briefing with journalists. An Israeli special forces commander was killed during the operation, a police statement said.
Gazan paramedics and residents said the assault killed scores of people and left mangled bodies of men, women and children strewn around a marketplace and a mosque.
The mission also left one officer, father-of-two Arnon Zmora, 36, dead - 'mortally wounded' during the firefight with Hamas terrorists.
Israeli News 12 broadcast footage of Argamani reunited with her father, smiling and embracing him. Video of Argamani's kidnapping, showing her shouting 'Don't kill me!' as she was driven into Gaza on a motorbike, had circulated soon after she was taken on October 7.
A smiling Argamani was shown speaking by phone to Israeli President Isaac Herzog from hospital surrounded by family and friends, in footage released by the president's office.
People wave Israeli flags as they celebrate after hostages who were kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7. were rescued from Gaza Strip
President Joe Biden spoke to the press on Saturday in Paris. But rather than a press conference, officials said the event was a 'press statement' without any questions
'Thank you for everything, thank you for this moment,' she said.
'I am so excited to hear your voice, it brings tears to my eyes ... Welcome home,' Herzog said.
U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed the return of the four Israeli hostages rescued in Gaza.
'We won't stop working until all the hostages come home and a ceasefire is reached,' Biden said at a news conference in Paris alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
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