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Israeli government slams CNN for equating Israeli hostages to released terrorist prisoners

The CNN headline read: ‘Three freed Israeli hostages appear in poor health. Many Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel have also seemed emaciated upon release.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO) criticized CNN on Saturday night for a headline that equated the condition of freed Israeli hostages with that of released Palestinian prisoners.

The CNN headline read: “Three freed Israeli hostages appear in poor health. Many Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel have also seemed emaciated upon release.”

The claim that Palestinian prisoners were in a similar condition to the emaciated Israeli hostages directly contradicted observed realities.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X, “For over a year, the international community has been misled by false claims of ‘starvation’ in Gaza.”

“But the images speak for themselves: Hamas terrorists and Gaza residents appear well-fed, while the Israeli hostages resemble Holocaust survivors—the only ones visibly suffering from starvation,” he continued.

The GPO released a statement regarding CNN’s headline, stating, “The GPO condemns any attempt by the media to establish a comparison and/or symmetry between the hostages, who were abducted from their homes in a brutal terrorist attack and held in starvation for a long period, and convicted terrorists who were serving their sentences in Israeli prisons.”

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“Such a narrative runs contrary to every ethical standard of journalism.”

Last week, the BBC faced criticism for referring to Israeli hostages as “prisoners,” implying a moral equivalency with the terrorists Israel was compelled to release as part of the hostage deal.

Last Friday, Hamas identified three men—35-year-old Yarden Bibas, 54-year-old Ofer Kalderon, and 65-year-old Keith Siegel—as the captives returned to Israel as part of the ongoing hostage agreement.

Later that day, BBC News anchor Nicky Schiller referred to the three captives as “Israeli prisoners.”

Hours later, however, the broadcaster issued a correction and an apology for Schiller’s wording.

“Earlier today on BBC News we reported on the names of those three Israeli hostages who are due to be freed tomorrow,” the BBC stated.

“At one point during the coverage, we mistakenly called the hostages ‘prisoners,’ and we would like to apologize.”

The apology marks the latest instance of the British news network walking back its reporting on the Israel-Hamas conflict.