Three years have passed since October 7. After countless conversations with Gazans over the past years, I wish I could say this exchange surprised me. The truth is, it no longer does. Once again, I'm on a call with a young man from Gaza. Once again, I hear about the destruction, the tents, the hardship. And once again, when we reach the simplest question, after everything that's happened to you, are you still happy about October 7? I receive an answer that's difficult for an Israeli to process.
The young man turned on his camera and showed me where he was standing. "You see where I am? I'm standing opposite IDF positions," he said. Then he continued: "I'm not afraid of death. Death is written for us. They see us now, and if they want to kill us, we are shahids. Our dead go to paradise and your dead go to hell." Those are his words. This isn't a senior Hamas official delivering a speech to cameras, nor a spokesman sitting in a studio. This is a conversation with a young man from Gaza.
