It was said calmly, but her words were virulent. "What's happening in Gaza is genocide. There's no other word for it. And there's nothing we can do about it. Hamas attacking Israel? That's good. We have the right to defend ourselves. Palestinians are attacked everywhere and all the time, in Gaza, Jenin and Nablus. Ukraine defended itself. So did Afghanistan. Why not Palestine? The Hamas operation [on October 7] was a great moment. For the first time, the resistance succeeded in breaking the siege. We've been suffering for 75 years. Now it's the Israelis' turn," said Shatha Abu Srour. The young woman had a pale complexion, almost as pale as her white veil, and was wearing a denim jacket and trainers. She came to Ramallah with two friends to protest the Israeli offensive on Gaza on Sunday, October 15.

These three nurses showed no compassion for the Israeli civilians killed by Hamas on October 7 in Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip. Hamas's victims number 1,400 to date, with new ones discovered every day. Around them, a hundred people marched in the rain, cheering for Mohammed Deif, commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. There were more protesters on Friday, the day of prayer, but the Palestinian Authority is trying to limit rallies in support of Hamas throughout the West Bank.

Shatha comes from a refugee camp in Bethlehem. Her grandmother comes from Beit Nattif, a Palestinian village near Hebron that was emptied and then completely destroyed in 1948 by Israeli forces in retaliation for the massacre of a convoy that had come to supply a Jewish settlement. Her grandmother, now 80, fled when she was 5. Her granddaughter represents the third generation of a never-ending conflict, where two enemies live side by side, each feeding their hatred for the other. Shatha uses Telegram for news because she deems other sources biased. Like many others, she doesn't believe that Israelis were massacred – she only sees the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.

'Everyone wore green, as a tribute to Hamas'

From Jenin to Nablus to Ramallah, all of the Palestinians we met applauded the October 7 attack. "The next day, everyone was wearing green, in homage to Hamas. As a Palestinian and a liberal, I have a problem with Hamas, but they're not my enemy. When Israel bombs us, no one does anything, but when Palestine attacks Israelis, Blinken [the US secretary of state] swoops in," said Mustafa Sheta, director of the Freedom Theatre, a cultural center in the Jenin refugee camp.

You have 62.6% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.