Earlier this week, political commentator Brianna Joy Gray from The Hill held an interview with Yarden Gonen, sister of Romi Gonen—one of the 124 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, during which she rolled her eyes in response to Gonen's remarks, leading to her dismissal from the channel a few days later. Watch:
"It finally happened, The Hill has fired me," Gray wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "There should be no doubt that @RisingTheHill has a clear pattern of suppressing speech -- particularly when it's critical of the state of Israel." In a subsequent tweet, the commentator added that her firing was a "deliberate effort."
According to the broadcast footage, when Gonen expressed hope that Gray believed testimonies revealing that female hostages are subjected to sexual violence by terrorists, Gray rolled her eyes, sighed, and abruptly ended the interview. "I really hope that you specifically will believe women when they say they got hurt," Gonen said. Gray reportedly rolled her eyes, sighed, and said, "Okay, thanks for joining. Stick around," cutting off the guest's remarks live on air.
Additionally, Gonen's sister shared during the broadcast that the last time she heard about her sister was in November when some of the released hostages described "horrific" conditions during their captivity.
Romi Gonen, 23, was abducted to Gaza on October 7 while attending the Nova music festival in Kibbutz Reim. Her close friend, 24-year-old Gaia Khalifa, was murdered in front of her eyes. As Gonen tried to escape the massacre, she managed to call her mother. Other hostages who have returned from captivity testified that they saw Gonen being kidnapped and dragged by terrorists while she was wounded in her hand. She lost consciousness after being hit by one of their weapons.
When the commentator pressed Gonen to discuss politics and the situation in Israel, Gonen explained that she only wanted to share her sister's story. When asked about Netanyahu's political ambitions, Gonen said it was not her role to comment. “I am here to talk about my sister; please help me spread her story. Help me make people understand what she is going through as a woman in 2024,” she said.
This is not the first time Romi Gonen’s family has faced such treatment during television interviews abroad. In November, Merav Gonen, Romi's mother, was interviewed by the Qatari network Al Jazeera about her daughter. However, the host chose to ask about the "occupied territories" and Gaza, saying, "This is the core of the issue." The mother replied, "Stop asking about that. My daughter is in Gaza; I want her to return with the other hostages."