ELIZABETH PALMER: Israel's assault on Gaza killed thousands of Hamas fighters, but it also created a whole generation of new ones.
RAMI: I have nothing left. Today I am prepared to join Hamas, and not just be one of them but be one of the best.
PALMER: He asked that we call him Rami. He’s 22, and told us an Israeli air strike killed both of his parents and two siblings, and that he has never held a gun in his life.
RAMI: I worked at the restaurant. My ambition was to be a talented chef, to earn a good salary. But then the war came and it wiped out everything.
PALMER: Hamas terrorists started the war on October 7, 2023 when they attacked Israel and murdered more than 1,000 people. But 15 months of relentless Israeli bombing hasn’t wiped them out. Their handover last Saturday of four Israeli hostages was a spectacle to project power and draw new recruits.
RAMI: Joining Hamas is revenge for what I went through, for no reasons and for no crime I committed.