ITV has come under fire as a result of Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley's line of questioning for the second time in a matter of days.
The uproar sparked on Wednesday was a result of Madeley and co-host Kate Garraway speaking to guest Noam Sagi and comes a week after the presenter issued an apology to British-Palestinian MP Layla Moran.
After he asked Moran if her family on the ground in Gaza "knew" of Hamas' plans to attack Israel on October 7, ITV faced calls from far and wide that he be sacked - Moran publicly accepted Madeley's apology.
On Wednesday, October 25, Madeley and Garraway spoke to Sagi following the release of two hostages, Yokheved Lifshitz and Nurit Yitzhak, from the terrorists' clutches.
Sagi's mother Ada remains a hostage under Hamas' control after the terror group captured around 220 others during the October 7 attacks on Israel which killed 1,400 people.
The interview with Sagi on Wednesday's show began with Madeley and Garraway referring to Lifshitz's account of her time as a hostage after she was seen shaking hands with her captors upon her release.
Garraway began the discussion by asking for Sagi's reaction to the footage of the release, to which he described the community they were part of as "one big family" so he was "very pleased to have them back with us".
However, he continued: "When I see the pictures, I think about the other 220 that are still being held, captured."
Richard Madeley and Kate Garraway spoke to Sagi via video link
ITV
Madeley then prompted furious reactions from ITV viewers when he followed up with the probe: "Were you comforted by what appears to be the relatively reasonable treatment the hostages are getting?
"According to her [Lifshitz's] account they are being fed, they’re eating the same food as their captors, they’ve been given water.
"Apart from... I think she said she was beaten when she was being taken to the tunnels where she was kept, (she) was beaten when she was on the back of a motorbike, after that it seems like the treatment was not unreasonable... were you comforted by that, thinking of your mother?”
Sagi seemed exasperated as he exhaled before replying: “Richard, we wouldn’t have the conversation if it would be good guys on the other side. That wouldn’t be the case, you wouldn’t talk to me right now."
He added that "every little helps" but was then asked by co-presenter Kate Garraway: "Obviously you're pleased she said some things of comfort but just expand a little bit on that if you may.
"I imagine there's terrible fear for what's happening to your mum right now."
Richard Madeley has sparked controversy once again on ITV's GMB
ITV
He responded: "Who comes to someone’s house – 80, 70, 90 years old, nine months old, three years old, shoots them in the limbs and take them out of their beds into captivity?
"And then we’re talking about conditions. I don’t want to have a conversation about the conditions, I want my mum back.
"I’m a son - you as parents just think about what that means if someone needs to fight for your life and you don’t know for 19 days now. So the conversation should go back to why we’re talking to begin with and that is my message."
Madeley sympathised with Sagi as he replied: "I think that’s a perfectly reasonable point of view and totally understandable," before asking how he discovered the news in the first place.
However, on X, formerly known as Twitter, GMB viewers had heard enough and blasted Madeley for suggesting Sagi could find comfort in the release of two hostages and their account of the conditions they were kept in.
"Richard Madeley, yet another display of interviewing with the sensitivity of a brick #GMB," one viewer fumed on the social media site.
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Noam Sagi's mother remains a hostage under Hamas' control
ITV
A second weighed in: "Surely...Not ANOTHER insensitive question from MADELEY??!! #gmb."
Another hit out: "@GMB making fools of themselves again #GMB #Hamas #Israel_under_attack."
While a fourth raged: "Richard Madeley being Richard Madeley as usual. He's interviewing a man whose mum is still a hostage and asking him the most ridiculous questions #GMB #goodmorningbritain."
And a fifth was similarly outraged: "Richard Madeley is at it again. Interviewing the Son of an Israeli hostage and actually asked 'are you comforted by a released hostage's account that they are receiving some food and water?'. Quite something."
"Please please @GMB gag Richard Madeley!" another said. "You do not ask the son of a hostage 'apart from your mother being beaten when they took her, are you happy with her treatment?' I'm stunned he's still on air frankly."
Despite the uproar, there have been some defenders of Madeley, including one who referenced his previous interaction with Moran and pleaded: "Pls pls pls, do not sack Richard Madeley for questioning layla moran... He's since apologised." (sic)
GB News has contacted ITV for comment.
