Julia Hartley-Brewer’s heated exchange with a Palestinian politician was the most complained-about TV event of the year, Ofcom has said.

Remarks made by the broadcaster during an interview on TalkTV with Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, on Jan 3 received 17,366 complaints.

Hartley-Brewer was discussing the Hamas-Israel war with Dr Barghouti after a senior official in the militant group Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed.

In a clip of the interview shared by TalkTV, Hartley-Brewer accused interviewee Dr Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, of interrupting her, saying: “Maybe you’re not used to women talking, I don’t know, but I’d like to finish the sentence!”

She added at the end of the interview: “Sorry to have been a woman speaking to you but there you are.”