An Israeli host was suspended after mocking the appearance of hostage icon Noa Argamani and implicitly criticizing the ongoing military operation in Gaza that has lasted for nine months. On Saturday, Channel 12 reporter Lama Tatur posted a story on her personal Instagram account attacking Israeli hostage Noa Argamani, who was rescued by the Israeli army during an operation in the Nussairat camp in Rafah.
Lama Tatur criticized Argamani's appearance, stating that her hair, skin, and nails did not indicate that she had been a hostage for nine months, remarking, "Does this look like someone who has been kidnapped for 9 months?!". She further questioned in her now-deleted post, "For this, children, women, and innocents must die and be torn apart?".
Channel 12 responded to Tatur's post, stating: "We strongly condemn the words of artist Lama Tatur on social media." The program producer, Khaled Natuur, confirmed that "Lama Tatur's remarks are unacceptable to us, and she was suspended from the program immediately," as reported by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
In a bloody hostage rescue operation, Israeli forces rescued four hostages held since October in an operation in central Gaza on Saturday, while officials from Hamas reported that over 200 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the same area, in what was described as one of the bloodiest attacks in the war. The hostage rescue coincided with intense Israeli airstrikes in the same region, which has seen much fighting during the ongoing eight-month war between Israel and Hamas.
