CBS “60 minutes”: Instead of listening to the hostages, Stahl chose to glorify Hamas.

Last night, CBS’s 60 Minutes aired an interview conducted by veteran journalist Lesley Stahl with freed Israeli hostages, including Yarden Bibas and Keith Siegel. The segment, while heartbreaking in its recounting of the hostages’ ordeal, was marred by what many are calling irresponsible and inflammatory journalism. Here’s a closer look at the horrific things Stahl said and the context she omitted.

“Netanyahu Broke the Ceasefire”

Stahl opened the segment by claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “broke the ceasefire” by resuming bombing in Gaza twelve days prior to the interview. This phrasing placed the blame squarely on Israel, ignoring critical context about why the ceasefire unraveled. Hamas had repeatedly stalled on releasing hostages as agreed. Former hostage Yarden Bibas himself pleaded for an end to the fighting, not because he blamed Israel, but because he feared for the lives of those still held captive. Yet Stahl’s narrative glossed over Hamas’s role, presenting a one-sided version of events that critics argue distorted reality and absolved the terrorist group of accountability.

“Were They Giving You Less Food, or Did They Just Not Have Enough to Give?”

Perhaps the most jarring moment came during Stahl’s exchange with Keith Siegel, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen released after months in captivity. Siegel described the meager and diminishing food rations he endured: conditions so dire that many hostages lost significant body weight, with some, like Eli Sharabi, dropping 40%. Stahl’s response was staggering: “Were they giving you less food, or did they just not have enough to give?” Siegel corrected her, noting that his captors ate in front of him, and at the same time, denied him food, a clear act of psychological torment. Critics slammed Stahl for downplaying the hostages’ suffering, with one X user calling her “cold-hearted”.

“An Estimated 50,000 Gazans Have Been Killed”

Stahl casually dropped the figure “an estimated 50,000 Gazans have been killed” into the segment, citing numbers from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry without attribution or qualification. This statistic fails to distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters, a critical omission given that Israel estimates a significant portion of casualties are combatants. Social media erupted, with users pointing out that “at least HALF” of any casualty count likely represents Hamas terrorists, a detail Stahl ignored entirely.

“Yarden Was Released in a Staged Ceremony”

Describing Yarden Bibas’s release, Stahl used the phrase “released in a staged ceremony,” a sanitized depiction that belied the reality of what transpired. Bibas, whose wife and two young sons were murdered by Hamas, was freed in January in a propaganda spectacle orchestrated by his captors. Far from a benign “ceremony,” this was a calculated act of psychological abuse, with Hamas filming Bibas breaking down as they callously dismissed his family’s deaths, telling him he’d get a “better wife, better kids.” I can't even imagine the horror he felt, held in sub-human conditions, where every second was a hellish eternity, told his wife and children were dead, praying and hoping it wasn't true. But even this horror failed to touch Stahl at all. She may as well have been listening to the weather.

“Frail, Traumatized, and in Pain”

Stahl described the freed hostages as “frail, traumatized, and in pain,” a characterization that, while true, barely scratched the surface of their suffering. Testimonies from Bibas, Siegel, and others—including Tal Shoham and accounts from the families of Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal—revealed starvation, beatings, sexual assault of female captives, and profound psychological torment. Bibas spoke of living in tunnels where the earth shook like an earthquake during bombings, while Siegel recounted forced humiliation, such as having his head shaved for his captors’ amusement.

The Bigger Picture: A Plea to Trump and a Call for Truth

The hostages’ own words offered a stark contrast to Stahl’s framing. Yarden Bibas, in his first interview since his release, directed his plea not to Netanyahu but to U.S. President Donald Trump, saying, “I’m here because of Trump. I think he’s the only one who can stop this war again.” His focus was on saving the 24 hostages still believed alive in Gaza, including his best friend David Cunio. Yet Stahl’s questions and commentary shifted attention away from their urgent call, continuing a a narrative which was clearly skewed against Israel.

The 60 Minutes segment was a missed opportunity to illuminate the hostages’ plight. Instead, it became another mouthpiece for the left, and people noticed Stahl's “heartbreakingly irresponsible” and “hateful” commentary.

For those who don't know, Leslie Stahl is also Jewish, yet listening to the descriptions of torture and horrific privation and suffering didn't seem to move her one little bit.

Shame on CBS. But honestly, if you expected anything different, you have been living under a rock.