What Do Palestinians Really Think of Hamas? Robert Sherman on His Exclusive Access Inside Gaza

NewsNation foreign correspondent Robert Sherman spoke to Mediaite’s Alex Griffing from Tel Aviv just days after getting exclusive access to an aid site in southern Gaza’s Saudi neighborhood – the first U.S. network to broadcast from there.

Sherman, the youngest foreign correspondent in cable news at the moment, spoke to Gazans on the ground – a voice largely missing in mainstream U.S. media – and asked them one of the key questions going forward: What do you think of Hamas?

“I lost my dreams due to Hamas,” one Gazan said to Sherman, their face blurred out for their protection.

“I hate Hamas so much,” added another.

Sherman also asked them what they think of Israel, and the answer was much of the same.

Sherman also discussed his other experiences during the war, including being inside Kibbutz Be’eri in the aftermath of the October 7th attack on the small residential enclave decimated by Hamas fighters.

“I’ll never forget the smell of human remains walking through there or walking through some of these homes where the ashes are a foot deep and they say people were burned alive here and then all of a sudden you don’t know what you’re walking on anymore,” Sherman said, adding:

And I mean it has just changed my whole perspective on life, on time, on people, and now I mean that’s really what keeps me going is trying to have a deep understanding of this and trying to bring the information to people as much as possible.

As the ceasefire has taken hold and a possible sustained end to the two-year-long war is in sight, Sherman also discussed what may come next. Having spoken to officials at aid sites in Gaza, Sherman also explained whether or not there is a plan to quickly end the humanitarian crisis gripping the population there.

Below is a full transcript of the conversation, edited for clarity:

Griffing: All right. Hello everybody. I am Alex Griffing and I’m joined by NewsNation foreign correspondent Robert Sherman, who is currently in Tel Aviv, and he has just gotten back from a few days of really fascinating reporting out of Gaza. He was at an aid site in southern Gaza in the Saudi neighborhood and I believe News Nation was the first TV network to get there from the United States so far. Yes, that’s correct.

All right. So just thank you so much for joining me, Robert. And just to start, I wanted to ask you just what is the vibe in Tel Aviv right now? I guess with the ceasefire taking hold, hope that the hostages are coming home, people must be elated.

Sherman: Yeah, I would say that there’s a buzz here that we really haven’t felt in two years. Every time that we’ve talked with these hostage families, they describe it as such an emotional roller coaster because there have been so many times in the past where they’ve heard from the negotiators or they’ve heard from officials in the US or Israel saying, “Hey, we are so close, your loved one could be coming home any day now,” and then the deal falls apart in the 11th hour and then it’s six months of grueling waiting.

I mean this has been—I mean really what these last two years have been like for so many of these families—and now this is the moment in which people are genuinely starting to believe that this is all going to work out and the clock is running now. I mean, we’re in that 72-hour phase of hostages coming out of Gaza in which Hamas has to release them. And I mean, we know that the preparations are underway. So, I mean, everything that needs to happen is happening. I mean it really just comes down to Hamas releasing the hostages, Israel releasing the Palestinian prisoners. This all goes step by step, but so far everything has happened that is needed to happen.

Griffing: Yeah, it’s fingers crossed that those hostages get out of there and that this war ends for sure. So, to Gaza a bit. We’re gonna play some clips from your time there. But before, just kind of want to ask you: on the ground, did you fear for your safety at all? Were you worried about your team? How was it being in there at these aid sites that have been flashpoints of violence?

Sherman: I mean, the reality is that the situation can change at any moment. I mean one producer that I’ve had in the past has said is that you’re safe until you’re not, is the way that he described it. And I mean that really is the reality because I mean while I was there, I never felt very unsafe. But I mean rockets can come at any moment and you have a matter of seconds, less than 10, from the time that it’s launched until it makes impact. And so all of a sudden, like a flip of a switch, it can be a very different situation.

While I was there, I mean, I felt fine. I mean the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had the situation pretty under control from what I could see. And they do use security contractors, armed security contractors while they were there. Many of them are retired U.S. soldiers, a couple of Marines were there, and I never really felt unsafe or anything like that. But of course the situation can change at any moment.

Griffing: Did they keep somebody with you where you felt like you had a guard of some kind of military presence with you?

Sherman: I mean, it wasn’t like a formal escort or anything like that. It wasn’t as if I was being guided and told necessarily where to go or where not to go. I mean there were always people who were, I mean, in theory, if something happened, if the situation degraded, someone was moments away from being there if necessary. But I mean it was never really like an escort kind of situation or anything like that.

Griffing: So you, while you were there, you spoke to Gazans, the people on the ground, which have really been kind of a missing voice, I feel like, in the U.S. media, just because, as we said, you were the first U.S. broadcaster to get in there. What did they tell you? And you asked them two of the really key questions: how did they feel about Hamas and how did they feel about Israel?

Sherman: Yeah, I think that you’re absolutely right from the standpoint that their perspective has been lost. And I would add to that more is that, I mean, there’s always videos coming in every day from the wire services that get interviews with Gazans coming, but I mean the Gaza Strip is different than the United States. There is a significant curation of information and perspective that comes out of Gaza. Make no mistake about it, Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. And they control a lot of the narratives that come out of Gaza.

So the opportunity to interact with people in a very organic manner, and that’s what I really wanted to do, is—sometimes you go to aid sites such as this, and the group kind of pre-selects people for you to talk to. They did not do that, I emphasize that, but I really wanted to, there were large groups of people who were there, right? Kind of let myself get surrounded by all of these Gazans to make it as organic as possible because I really wanted the true perspective of what people were thinking. And in regards to those questions there, what people thought about Israel, they were very blunt.

Many people use the word “hate,” hate Israel. So I never took it as though that there was any pandering for the camera for many people there. But then turning the question around: “What do you think about Hamas?” And they said pretty unabashedly, “Yeah, let’s make this clear, we hate both Israel and Hamas.” And I asked for clarity on that multiple times and they made clear that that’s how they felt is because they believe that they were dragged into this war by Hamas, that the burden that they have felt for the last two years was due to the October 7th attack.

I mean, there were some who said that, I mean, they couldn’t condone the attack because hindsight being 20/20 of what happened and the burden that they felt as a result of that. So yeah, I have no doubt in my mind from talking to them that that was truly how they felt. And what is so different is that, that’s not to say that that perspective hasn’t been there for years from some people. But it is very rare that you see people inside of Gaza so unabashedly speaking ill of Hamas for fear of retribution. I mean, there was one person who we met there who said that he had a bounty placed on his head for committing the crime of giving out food to fellow Gazans on behalf of an American aid agency. I mean that’s what the Gaza Strip is like. I mean it’s very different than the United States. So to hear so many, especially the young people, the young were the most outspoken. Late teens, like 18, 19, early 20s, those were the people who were least afraid to speak their mind about what they thought.

Sherman in NewsNation clip: What made this round of negotiations different is the pressure on Hamas, not just from the West, not just around the Middle East, but also internally in Gaza. NewsNation exclusively inside of the enclave today at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites where we had the opportunity to speak with Palestinians there. We asked them about Hamas and this is what they said. Take a listen: “What do you think of Hamas?” “I don’t know, but I hate Hamas so much.”

Gazan: Hamas is a bunch of criminals. They don’t think of our people’s needs for 17 years.

Sherman: We met a lot of Palestinians today who are tired, who are hungry and angry with Hamas over the war that has taken place for the last two years.

Griffing: So you also spoke to one of the GHF, the workers, and I think he was an American, that’s right?

Sherman: Yes, yes. Chapin Fay. And so he’s with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. And I mean, as you can imagine, the whole situation of humanitarian aid in Gaza, I mean, is a huge—I don’t want to use the word political, but it is political. It is a geopolitical talking point from countries around the Middle East, United States—it’s something that’s talked about in American political institutions all the time—is there enough aid? Is there not enough aid?

And I mean, if you listen to a lot, the Palestinian groups, they say that there’s not enough aid going in. If you talk to the Israelis, they say point blank that is—we think that there is plenty of food going in, so the truth has got to be somewhere in the middle, right? So when you ask the Americans their perspective, and they say that these are hungry—these are desperate people. The term “starvation” is a bit more technical. So, I mean, that’s really not for me to decide if there’s starvation in Gaza or not.

The UN contends that there’s famine inside of Gaza. But I mean he was point blank, I’m using the words that he could, he was saying is that there is hunger in Gaza without question and that there are people who want food. And I mean I think like where we were, and seeing those operations in the south, there were certainly hungry people there, but that’s about where the food security issue is as good as it gets near Rafah, near Khan Yunis, near the border with Egypt. That’s where it’s much more accessible to get those aid trucks in. You go a couple of miles north where it is a very dynamic situation when it comes to the war and it’s not secure, it’s much more difficult to move that humanitarian assistance in.

Sherman in NewsNation clip: Are people starving in Gaza?

Chapin Fay: Well, you summed it up right, that’s for the politicians to discuss and debate the words and the descriptions. We are not seeing the acute hunger here in the south of the people that we serve that they are seeing in the north. However, these are certainly desperate, hungry people who are telling us that they rely on our boxes and our food to survive.

Sherman in NewsNation clip: Hamas does not like these sites. And as we were told by the GHF, they have local aid workers who have bounties on their heads, have been threatened by Hamas, have to move their families every couple of days just to stay alive. As a result, the group uses private security contractors.

That makes them controversial in the eyes of some in the international community and some of these NGOs who don’t believe that they’re efficient, don’t believe that they are able to deliver aid in an adequate manner. We’re giving you an inside look and giving you the opportunity to see these operations for yourself, backed by the Israelis and the Americans, how they are operating and how they are trying to put food into the hands of everyday Palestinians.

Griffing: Okay. Yeah. So speaking to him must have been really interesting. And it is clear the media coverage of the aid sites has been very contentious in the last few months. And I guess, kind of coming out of those conversations, do you think there is a working model to get aid into Gaza in the future, especially as rebuilding maybe is going to start soon, but the humanitarian crisis is ongoing? Is the GHF going to continue operating? And do they have a model to get food in?

Sherman: That’s a really good question because, I mean, the GHF has certainly taken a lot of flak from the international community. I mean if you listen to a lot of the NGOs or other heads of state, government institutions from other countries, they contend that they are disorganized environments, dangerous environments for aid seekers. I mean, that was really not my takeaway from when I was there. I mean granted, I haven’t been there every single day that they’ve been in operation.

But from what I saw firsthand, I mean, I can tell you that I’ve been at aid sites in the United States in the wake of natural disasters that were more chaotic than that. And I think I mean there is an inherent chaos that comes from hungry people trying to get food. So I mean I would think of it from that in terms of the GHF’s role. I mean, there’s the possibility that they go away if there’s something written in a deal as we try and move to phase two of this that would bring the U.N. back in full bore to run the show.

But for now, the way that it looks, according to what we’re getting from the White House, is that you would have the traditional aid groups such as the U.N., but also other international aid groups in there. And it seems as though that the GHF fits the bill from what they’ve described in very vague terms so far. So for now, it seems that they’re going to continue operating there until they’re not at this point.

Griffing: I have kind of like a question about your reporting over the years. So you have been inside the tunnels in Gaza. You were at Kibbutz Be’eri after the October 7th slaughter there, which was pretty horrifying. How have you kind of managed keeping the coverage going? Has it taken a toll on you? How is that as a reporter to be—you’ve been in the tunnel where we’ve seen these horrific images of emaciated hostages. How do you keep it going?

Sherman: Yeah, that’s a really good question. I mean, what I would say is, I mean this has been the toughest assignment of my life without question. And I kind of tell everyone that when I first went to Ukraine after the initial invasion, I quickly learned that I had a lot more to learn about the world. I mean I remember being in college thinking that I was so smart that I had the whole world figured out, that I was informed because I read newspapers, news articles, watched cable news.

I thought I was informed. Living it is so different. I mean, and looking people in the eyes firsthand really changes your whole perspective on everything. I mean I think the world is a very simple looking black and white place from a 40,000-foot view. But when you are there on the ground level, I have no idea what to make of the situation. And I mean, that’s been a big part of what has kept me going is, I mean this hunger to really understand the whole situation. And there’s still plenty that I don’t here in the Middle East. And I think that anyone who comes out of the Middle East and says, “I’ve got the world figured out” is probably guilty of hubris because there are so many different demographics in this region. There are so many different cultures, each of which has its own aim.

There are different sovereign states, each with their own nationalities and sub-nations within them. They all want something different, view the world differently. And I think that unfortunately there’s a bad habit in the United States of trying to paint the whole region as being one and the same, which it clearly is not. So I mean, that is what has really tried to get me going is to really get a deeper understanding and you really have to put yourself in these situations.

I mean, Kibbutz Be’eri, I mean for example, I mean I remember being there, I’ll never forget the smell of human remains walking through there or walking through some of these homes where the ashes are a foot deep and they say people were burned alive here and then all of a sudden you don’t know what you’re walking on anymore. And I mean it has just changed my whole perspective on life, on time, on people, and now I mean that’s really what keeps me going is trying to have a deep understanding of this and trying to bring the information to people as much as possible.

Griffing: No, and I think you can really see that in your interviews in Gaza, which I really recommend to anybody to check them out on News Nation. Just kind of one final overarching question, which is not an easy one. Having looked these people in the eye, like you said, and spoken to everyday Gazans, do you feel that there is any sense of hope or have any sense of where this may go? What is the future of Gaza under Trump and Netanyahu, under this deal? Is there anything good coming down the pike?

Sherman: I mean, I think that the way to answer that is to break that up into the short term and the long term, right? And I think in the short-term, I mean, everyone pretty much said the same thing that we spoke to. It’s just that they’re tired, they’re exhausted, their homes have been destroyed, they want this to end, and they want some kind of normalcy.

And I do think that with what you’re seeing right now, there is a chance of short-term sunshine on the horizon, shall we say, that brighter days are coming. And I think a large part of that is you really see a lot of international pressure right now. The United States placing pressure on Israel, Qatar and the mediators placing pressure on Hamas, the internal pressure inside of Gaza on Hamas. That’s what’s all different right now over the last couple of weeks.

Long term, when it comes to peace in the Middle East, I mean, people here in Israel, for example, really, two years ago before October 7th, if you said that there was a day in which there could be diplomatic ties opened up between Israel and Lebanon or Israel and Syria, they would have laughed at you.

Griffing: Yeah, absolutely.

Sherman: They believe that that is possible now because of the dynamic that we are in. I mean, if you look at the last two years, Hezbollah’s capabilities have been degraded, the Assad regime has fallen, you have Iran, which, I mean, I guess everyone’s arguing about what level their capabilities have been degraded, but they’ve been degraded to some degree, and then you have Hamas who, I will see what happens in the next couple of weeks, but could be demilitarized if President Trump gets his way, could lose control of the Gaza Strip.

So I do think that there is the possibility of all this here. It is a very complex environment here in the Middle East. And again, it kind of goes back to what I said before, I mean, every sovereign state here in this region has their own objectives. What the Qataris want and what the Emiratis want, and what Syrians want and the Lebanese want are not necessarily the same thing. In many cases, they’re not the same thing. So I mean, it’s juggling all those different perspectives. I suppose I’ll always be a blind optimist and believe that there are brighter days on the horizon. And if things continue to proceed sequentially as they are right now, I do think it’s possible. But there is a lot of work to be done.

Griffing: I mean, you can certainly, obviously you’re in Tel Aviv, I was there a few weeks ago. In Israel, you really can feel the exhaustion, just like still a country in trauma, and they seem to wanna be done with this. So I mean that’s also definitely an area to be optimistic, at least from their end. It’s so much easier to kind of understand the dynamics within Israeli politics because it plays out in the media unlike in Gaza. I think that’s what makes getting in there so important.

Sherman: I would agree, and my hope is that there’s going to be more access. I’ve seen some journalists putting out statements today demanding access to Gaza now that the ceasefire has come into effect here. I’m always a believer the cure is sunshine, and that more information, more access is good. I also understand why, by that same token there hasn’t been much access.

I mean, it is a contained, small environment that is highly dynamic with this war going on. I see it both ways, and I’m not going to necessarily weigh in one way or another, but I do believe that more access will be coming, or should at the very least be coming if a ceasefire comes into effect. And hopefully, there are more perspectives. People can see what these two years of war have done to the Gaza Strip as a whole, to the people as a whole. And with more information, it gives us a better diagnosis of what is going to be needed in order to press forward.

Griffing: Absolutely. I think that’ll be a major thing to watch in the coming weeks. If more journalists get in there, just the stories, what the state of Gaza is, and just how the journalists are able to operate within the strip is going to be something to track for sure. Robert, thank you so much for joining me. This was fascinating, and thank you for your reporting. I think speaking to Gazans and getting in there is just so important.

Sherman: Thank you so much for having me, and I appreciate your interest in it.