Calls are growing for CNN to fire its original star, Christiane Amanpour, after the anti-Israel television personality claimed that Israeli hostages held by Hamas were “treated better” than Gazans. An apology from Ms. Amanpour has failed to quell the uproar.

On Monday, Ms. Amanpour, appearing on CNN, commented on the release of the 20 living hostages from Gaza and said, “They’re probably being treated better than the average Gazan because they are the pawns and the chips that Hamas had.”

The comments sparked fierce backlash, and she later apologized, saying, “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 … 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,” she said. “It was insensitive and wrong. 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 recalled stories from hostages describing “barely being able to breathe in the tunnels, not being allowed to cry, being starved and made to dig their own graves.”

Ms. Amanour, who emerged as CNN’s first real superstar in the 1990s, made a name for herself with aggressive reporting on human rights issues, especially from the Bosnian war, where she reported live from conflict zones at considerable personal risk. In recent decades, she has settled into a role as a globalist, liberal television personality in the upper echelons of respectable London, where she lives and hosts a low-rated foreign policy CNN talk show.

As has happened to many liberal figures from the establishment, though, Ms. Amanpour may have gravely overstepped and jeopardized her perch in displaying insensitivity to Jews. Several of the last remaining Gaza hostages were seen hideously emaciated and undressed, being forced to dig their own graves, in videos released by Hamas that horrified the world and reportedly were the final straw before Israel carried out an air strike on Hamas’s senior leadership in their luxury apartments in Qatar, where they thought they were safe.

Ms. Amanpour’s apology on Monday did not satisfy her critics, who suggested that CNN should fire her. 

A conservative commentator, Steve Krakauer, wrote on X, “She had to read this off the prompter. Pathetic.”

“Oh, running scared, are you? Run, Amanpour, run. Straight off El Capitan,” the editor of Commentary, John Podhoretz, said.

A staff writer at the Atlantic, Caitlin Flanagan, said, “‘Who have finally had a reprieve from 2 years of brutal, deadly war.’ A reprieve that was always available to them if they’d returned the hostages and surrendered. That’s how wars work.”

A conservative media columnist, Joe Concha, said, “She was told to do this by management. Fire this person already. To say Israeli hostages were treated well AFTER TWO YEARS IN CAPTIVITY by these monsters means Amanpour has no business being on the air.”

The White House communications director, Steven Cheung, wrote on X, “Christiane Amanpour is one of the most unserious journalists covering foreign policy. She’s simply a sock puppet controlled by America’s enemies, parroting hate & anti-Trump biases. It’s a wonder why CNN has employed her for so long even after she embarrasses herself every week.”

Another user wrote, “She was ordered to do this or be fired. She should still be fired.”

A conservative journalist, Bree Dail, wrote that Ms. Amanpour’s “retraction is not enough” and that CNN should “hold @amanpour accountable.” 

CNN did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.