CNN’s Christiane Amanpour apologized Monday for saying that the Israeli hostages held by Hamas had “probably been treated better than the average Gazan,” acknowledging that her comment was “insensitive and wrong.”
The network’s chief international anchor issued an apology hours after she was excoriated for her live, on-air comparison of the conditions faced by the 20 remaining hostages held by Hamas versus residents of Gaza, who live in a war zone but are not being held hostage.
“You know, they’ve probably been treated better than the average Gazan because they are the pawns and the chips that Hamas had,” said Ms. Amanpour during the live Monday segment. “Now Hamas has given up all its leverage, by the way, by giving them all up.”
Those decrying her description included former U.S. envoy Richard Grenell, now president of the Kennedy Center, who called her a “sick woman.”
“She’s literally pro-Hamas. You can feel how mad she is with the release of hostages by Trump,” Mr. Grenell wrote on X.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded: “The hostages were starved, tortured, and subjected to sexual violence. Your words are Hamas propaganda on steroids.”
HonestReporting, a media watchdog group aimed at exposing anti-Israel bias, replied: “Starved, electrocuted, held in chains & cages underground, forced to dig their own graves. Is that what she considers being treated better than the average Gazan?”
The hostages were starved, tortured, chained, beaten, abused, humiliated, and denied medical treatment for two years, @amanpour.
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) October 13, 2025
How can you possibly say they were “treated better than the average Gazan”?!
This is what some of them look like before and after Hamas captivity: https://t.co/YE75TQ0Wkm pic.twitter.com/FnYdQeGnoI
In her on-air apology, Ms. Amanpour said she had previously “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,” she said. “It was insensitive and wrong.”
She said she has been “horrified” by the accounts of former hostages and their families after 251 Israeli civilians and others were kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, which also left killed around 1,200 civilians.
“From speaking to many former hostages and their families, like everyone I’ve been horrified at what Hamas has subjected them to over two long years,” Ms. Amanpour said. “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.”
Hamas agreed to release the remaining hostages as well as the bodies of the 28 dead hostages under the ceasefire deal brokered by the Trump administration and signed Monday by world leaders in Egypt.
In exchange, Israel agreed to release 250 Palestinian prisoners and more than 1,700 detainees from Gaza.
HonestReporting declared “success” after Ms. Amanpour issued her apology, but added that “this isn’t the first time she’s had to apologize for her anti-Israel bias. Shame on her for this latest atrocious example.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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