GAZA STRIP, ISRAEL: Renana Goneh, a mother hailing from Nir Oz, a southern Israeli settlement near the Gaza border, has found herself in the global limelight following the alleged abduction of her two sons, aged 12 and 16, by Hamas.
The shocking event transpired during an unexpected assault by Hamas on Israeli settlements.
Goneh was away from home when the alleged adduction occurred. She was in the middle of a phone call with her younger son when she heard his pleas to the intruders not to abduct him.
Renana Goneh lets loose on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell
In a video shared with i news, the heartbroken mother Renana Goneh narrated the terrifying incident, revealing that terrorists had broken into her home and forcibly taken her children from their beds.
During an interview with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC, Goneh voiced her exasperation and fury regarding the situation.
When questioned about her "feelings" on Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Gaza, she responded, "I can’t be sympathetic anymore. I can't be sympathetic to animal human beings — well, they’re not really human beings — who came into my house, broke everything. Stole everything, took my children from their bedrooms and took them to the Gaza Strip."
In the striking on-air interview, Gomeh leveled accusations at Mitchell, asserting that she was attempting to draw a false parallel between the Hamas attacks and Israel’s retaliatory strikes.
"Look, you’re looking first for a symmetrical situation. And I must say it isn’t. If you were dealing with a war between two countries, countries don’t take children hostages," she stated.
"I’m sorry. It’s against the laws of war. It’s against humanity. It’s against anything that we all believe in. Israel never done that, and it will never do. So there is no symmetry."
The mother expressed that she used to encourage her children to empathize with the kids in Gaza, but her current circumstances have led her to question this perspective.
"Every time we had missiles shot at us, I used to say to my children that they should be sympathetic towards the children of Gaza because they suffer a lot more than they do. I’m not sure I still believe in it now."
"I must say the only worry I have now from the bombings in Gaza is the fact that my children are there," added Gomeh.
Goneh’s heartfelt appeal for assistance has touched people globally. She has urged mothers and individuals worldwide to aid in the search for her sons and their safe return home.
While the interview is undeniably heart-wrenching, there has been a wave of online criticism directed at Mitchell for her line of questioning towards the distraught mother.
Internet dubs MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell 'embarrassing' for her questions
A user on X, formally Twitter wrote, "MSNBC has really dropped the ball with their coverage, they lost a viewer. Embarrassing stuff!"
"Andrea Mitchell has no heart," claimed an outraged viewer.
"This is sickening Andrea Mitchell shame on you! This is not journalism, how can you call yourself a journalist?" noted another user.
"You have no heart, hopefully you will never be in that position. My heart goes out to that poor mother that still had the strength to answer your absurd and hurtful?"
One person wrote, "Unfortunately, no one warned this woman. MESSNBC = PATHETIC."
"Have to say Andrea swallows, gulps and stutters thru that question as if she's not even sure why she's asking it. I could be wrong tho, but it seemed she didn't want to ask," another user mentioned.
