Interview with Channel 14 Arab Affairs Journalist, Ahikam Himmelfarb Transcript

Disclaimer: This transcript is an edited version of a transcript created using AI technology and may not reflect 100% accuracy.

The video can be found here.

Sarah: Good afternoon and welcome to yet another topical and timely EMET webinar. Around the time that the final body of Master Sergeant Ran Gvili was returned to Israel on January 26, President Trump announced that he was entering into phase two of the Gaza peace plan. Of course, phase one includes the complete disarmament of Hamas. In order to probe into this and other issues thoroughly, we are delighted to welcome to our program Ahikam Himmelfarb. Ahikam is a new participant in this program, and we’re delighted to welcome him. Ahikam is an Israeli journalist who serves as the Arab Affairs Correspondent of Channel 14 News. He’s also worked previously for Palestinian Media Watch, and he has worked as an Arabic Hebrew interpreter for Arab terrorists at the Ofer military court. He’s fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Ahikam, the first question is, how thoroughly has Hamas begun to disarm?

Ahikam Himmelfarb: Well, they didn’t begin to disarm at all. Judging by things that we’re going to regard in a few seconds, we’re going to see this in the articles we just made. And also you need to listen to their seniors who say it’s going to happen. Like all Hamas seniors, like, I don’t know if all- can’t remember all of them right now, but some really Hamas, some really high rank Hamas seniors, express this in the Arab media. It’s not something they hide. Like Musa Abu Marzook, for example, this past week just said that they’re not going to give up their arm. Their military spokesman, Abu Ubaidah, it’s not something that they say they’re going to do, but it’s not regarding declarations only. We have proofs[?] on the ground that they still maintain their weapon and that they’re not willing to give up their weapon. And they do the opposite. They rearm, they rebuild new units. And this is what we’re going to see in the article. I don’t want to spoil.

Sarah: Right. So, Lily, can you please share the first article we sent you?

Ahikam: This one just- maybe we’ll, no, yeah, we can start with this one.[crosstalk]Yes.

Sarah: Let’s[?]start playing.

Ahikam: But just want to tell you guys… Right[?] at the time Hamas is being told to disarm. The reality on the ground shows that the terrorist group has no intention to.

Trump: They have to give up their weapons. And if they don’t do that, it’s going to be the end of them.

Ahikam: In an exclusive conversation I had today with Shawqi Abu Nasira, head of the militia in the Khan Younis area that cooperates with Israel, he tells us about a new force currently being established by Hamas and is made up of many ex-members of various Hamas units.[foreign language]According to Shawqi, the goal of the new unit, Force 500, is to maintain Hamas control in the street by force. [foreign language]Hamas, as you see, is not folding, and over the weekend was very active. These photos that look like they were taken in the midst of the war have been flowing out of the Gaza Strip all weekend. Hamas violated the agreement, and the IDF responded with a series of strikes. Thursday, a terrorist tried to harm IDF soldiers in Gaza and was eliminated. The action continued during the night between Thursday and Friday, when eight terrorists emerged from a tunnel in the Rafah area, which prompted an immediate airstrike by the air force. Three terrorists were killed on the spot. According to the IDF, one of the captured terrorists is a commander in the Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade. How did this terrorist end up in the hands of the IDF?[foreign language] Yesterday, this video was posted as well of Ghassan al-Duhaini, Yasser Abu Shabab’s replacement and the head of the militia, which also cooperates with Israel. According to reports, the captive sitting here on the floor next to Duhaini is Adham al Akar, Hamas’ East Rafah commander. Online, Gazans accused Duhaini of handing him over to Israel. The situation continued, and on Saturday morning, the Hamas police headquarters in the northern Gaza city was attacked. Another took place in the Mawasi area, followed by two more attacks in the Gaza city. In Gaza, at least 30 people are reported dead in the series of IDF attacks over the weekend. And if we put this to context with what Shawqi Abu Nasira told us, a clear picture emerges. The Hamas terrorist group continues to operate, consolidate, and demonstrate strength as if the war never ended, and do not show any willingness to disarm.

Sarah: So, Ahikam, how much of the strip[?] does Hamas actually control?

Ahikam: It controls, like- you need to understand, today you have some areas in the Gaza Strip that are under Israeli control, and some areas that are under Hamas’ control. Now, he controls everything that’s not under Israeli control. It’s like, if it’s not Israel, so it’s Hamas.

Sarah: So, we saw some resistance, this…

Ahikam: It’s about-if I’m not wrong, like, 30% or so.

Sarah: 30% of what?

Ahikam: Of the strip.

Sarah: Of the strip.

Ahikam: Of the Gaza Strip, yes.

Sarah: But there is some resistance. But what happens to most of the people when they try to resist Hamas?

Ahikam: So, the guys you just saw, Shawqi Abu Nasira, is… Okay, I will start from the beginning. Like, during the war, we saw on the news, on Gaza media, we saw conversations about new militias that are being formed and propped by Israel. Little by little, we got to understand that it’s a real thing. It’s a thing that actually happened. And Israeli seniors admitted that Israel does this. So, what they do, they take an area, and they make it clear of Hamas, and they let a local power run it. So, in each and every single one of these, what you may call cells or enclavage[?]

Sarah: Enclaves right.

Ahikam: … enclaves, yes, you have a small military power, and you have community. You have people coming in. It’s not big numbers, but it’s something that has been happening for a few months already. And this guy, you saw in the last article, he’s the head of one of these militias from Khan Younis. And yes, they tried to resist. They cooperate with the IDF. This guy actually, on another interview, admitted to me that he’s being supported by Israel and that he’s being armed by Israel, and they do work against Hamas. So, it’s something that happens.

Sarah: But how much of a real resistance are they putting up? And how many of them, I don’t know if it’s possible for you to tell, but how many of them are being mowed down on the strip[?] by Hamas?

Ahikam: They’re not an army. It’s like, according to reports, it’s something like a few hundreds in each and every single one of these militias, but it’s not an army that’s going to replace Hamas. For me, when I spoke with them, and I also posted this on my reports on Channel 14, they did tell me that they wish to cooperate and become a part of the international power of entering Gaza. They do want to be related to this.

Sarah: But we have Force 500 in the last report, and how many of them want to be part of the international security force, the police force that-

Ahikam: Force 500.

Sarah: Yeah.

Ahikam: No, it’s Hamas.

Sarah: Hamas, right. And will they just change their uniforms, and they’ll have the same tactics as Hamas?

Ahikam: No, the thing about this Force 500 is that they did not publish this. Hamas did not publish they are doing this. It is like, in these days, when there’s a lot of pressure on Hamas to disarm, they do the opposite. This is what I am saying. That is exactly the point. They build a new military unit. Now you have to understand, Hamas, during the war, they established a new military power. It is called a Sahm unit, which means an arrow in Arabic, Sahm, the arrow unit. Now this unit’s role is to beat up people who oppose Hamas. So you see them break people’s leg. You see them shoot people on the street. I do not know, you guys probably saw this. So I guess the horrific videos you saw on media[crosstalk]it’s their job.

Sarah: Yeah, it is absolutely horrific.

Ahikam: And yes, and this unit, let me tell you something that just happened before we started the Zoom. This unit, they have a Facebook page. They have like a few pages, Facebook, Telegram, whatever. And it is called Imsik Amil, which means catch a collaborator, catch a snitch. They posted all the horrific videos on this platform. And the minute before I got into this Zoom conversation, I saw that they posted this video we just saw on their platform, the Imsik Amil platform, the catch a collaborator platform. They posted this report, and they said like, “Shawqi Abu Nasira, you have to understand one thing. You missed one thing. The role of the new unit is to beat up people who are like you.” There is a lot of hatred to people who collaborate with Israel. It is like a treachery.

Sarah: Right. So I think we should now go to the next video, because there we will see what reality is like for the average person living in Gaza. So Lily, can you show the next video, please?

Lily: Just a moment.

Sarah: Okay, thank you, Lily.

Lily: Just a moment.

Sarah: Alright.

Ahikam: Yeah, no problem

Sarah: Okay. So here, for the average[crosstalk] Yeah. Oh, this one.[crosstalk] This is not the next one.

Ahikam: I will tell you…

Sarah: Okay.

Ahikam: Yeah, it’s number two.

Lily: If you could give me the title, that would be the most helpful.

Ahikam: Uncovered Gaza. This Hamas terrorist you are seeing here was filmed a few days ago in the Gaza Strip. These videos were filmed specially for Channel 14 News, and the person who filmed them for me is a Gazan civilian from the center of the Strip. [foreign language]In recent days, I have been in touch with M, who describes reality in Gaza that some prefer to ignore. The very fact that he is in contact with me should not be taken for granted.[foreign language] Throughout Gaza, the presence of Hamas’s infamous Sahm unit is strongly felt, spreading terror among the Strip’s residents. [foreign language]It’s this unit.[foreign language] The footage M[?] sent us exposes what Hamas is trying to hide today. Armed Hamas terrorists scattered throughout the streets of the Strip. Here, you see Hamas terrorists standing in the middle of the market, menacingly glaring at passersby. And here, terrorists who appear to have just finished their shift are leaving the area on a Toyota. The same type terrorists used to invade the Gaza envelope on October 7th.[foreign language]

Trump: The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip.

Ahikam: According to Trump’s plan, whose second phase is already beginning, Hamas is supposed to be completely disarmed. Therefore- Hamas’s control over aid supplies entering the Strip has been a burning issue throughout the entire war. This is how Hamas controls the civilians. Here too, Hamas to shed light for us. In this footage, you can see a distribution. Again, from the same infamous Toyota. All supervised from the side by Hamas terrorists. And like many Gazans, he’s[?] sick of life under Hamas’s corrupt rule. And he fears they will continue to run the Strip. This is the reason he contacted me. While Trump’s plan races into phase two, it’s important to remind the American president and also to Israeli decision makers what one brave Gazan civilian is revealing. Hamas is here to stay. And it controls the Gaza Strip through force of arms.

Sarah: So, Ahikam two days ago we heard that the United Arab Emirates might get involved, then we’ve heard they’re off. A lot of- Indonesia said might get involved, then we’ve heard they’re off. A lot of nations say, “Yes, we’re volunteering.” And then when they realise what kind of a force to reckon with Hamas is, they say, “We can’t do it.” I think it’s only up to the IDF to finish this job. And do you think the IDF has the willpower to do that? Ahikam?

Ahikam: Can you hear me?

Sarah: Yeah, now I hear you.

Ahikam: Okay. So what I am saying is, I think that the IDF obviously has the ability to do this, but it is up to your beloved president to give the green light. About the Arab countries, they face a dilemma. And they can’t, even though maybe between themselves, they don’t really care about Hamas or maybe even hate Hamas. They cannot do anything against it. They don’t want to look like those who shot Palestinians on the street, who had conflicts with them, who got into these corners. So it’s a thing that they cannot face. You know what I am saying?

Sarah: Yeah. So in terms of the aid distribution, is Hamas only giving it to their cronies that cooperate with Hamas?

Ahikam: Excuse me.

Sarah: Is Hamas, when they are distributing the aid from the trucks, are they only giving them to people that cooperate with Hamas?

Ahikam: It’s more complex than this. It’s not like they let other people starve, but they do make a lot of money out of this. This is a thing that we should understand. It’s like they take taxes, they deal with the traders. Some traders are close to them. Some are in conflict with them. And the Sahm unit also, the arrow unit, Sahm unit, they also, let us call it, take care of merchants…

Sarah: Friends[?]Right, sure. Right.

Ahikam: …who don’t cooperate with Hamas or that raise the prices or anything like this. Raise the prices without permission or anything like this, yes.

Sarah: Right, okay. So let us now go north to Lebanon. What is happening in southern Lebanon now? How free is that of Hezbollah? Lily can you- yeah. Maybe we should show this tape of the…

Ahikam: Okay, we show this tape now?

Sarah: Yeah, I think that would be great.

Lily: Is this behind enemy lines?

Ahikam: Let me tell you. Yeah, it is. Welcome to Hezbollah land. Beirut, Lebanon, last month. This footage is from the camera of Yitzhak Horowitz, a Haredi Jew wandering here as if he’s in a Jewish Orthodox neighborhood. He makes his way to Dahiya, a Hezbollah stronghold where no Jew should be, definitely not with a camera. One misstep will end badly. His crazy adventure ends safely. I’m meeting him now to hear his story.[foreign language] Yitzhak is a historian and reporter for the Haredi B’Kehilla magazine and American media outlets. He asked me not to show his face nor to reveal the cover story he used to enter Lebanon, as it may risk others. He wears a cap from a Sidon market. And now back to the grieving moments entering the tomb.[foreign language] Nasrallah’s tomb is really not a tourist stop. It’s a place of worship. [foreign language] Yitzhak was facing a dilemma. He understood he had to utter something over Nasrallah’s grave. Simultaneously, the cries and weeping coming from the women’s section reminded him of the poem by Sisera’s mother in the Book of Judges.[foreign language]Yitzhak is a researcher of Jewish communities, and this was the main reason that brought him to Lebanon. In this context, he tells us of a rather surprising encounter. [foreign language]Yitzhak reveals how Jews leave in 2025 Beirut.[foreign language] Yitzhak details ongoing Jewish life, even today, unbelievingly in Nasrallah’s land.[foreign language] Yitzhak traveled all over Lebanon and reached southern Lebanon as well. The region is ruthlessly controlled by Hezbollah. [foreign language]Everything in southern Lebanon screams Hezbollah, with images of Nasrallah everywhere, and residents blindingly follow Hezbollah. Yitzhak took these photos in the town of El Abasiyah, a distinct Hezbollah stronghold. [foreign language]Yitzhak gives us a peek into the mindset in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah isn’t eager to stop its terror anytime soon. [foreign language]For months, Israel and the U.S. are trying to get Hezbollah to demilitarize. If the Lebanese government fails to disarm the terrorist organization, Israel may hit them hard. In this context, Yitzhak also seeks to convey a timely message. [foreign language]In Lebanon, there are still Jews, there are people, but there’s also a single organization holding everyone hostage. Yitzhak got out of there alive, but under no illusions. Hezbollah isn’t giving up its arms, nor its animosity.

Sarah: So, how would you respond to people in the United States that say the war is over?

Ahikam: Well, you could say that the war has been ongoing in Israel for 70 years, but this phase, I guess, ended. But no, it goes on, like there are attacks all the time. If you’re speaking of the Lebanese-Iranian, Israel… Can you guys hear me?

Sarah: We hear you- yeah.

Ahikam: Yeah, okay. So, Israel keeps attacking there all the time, every day, each and every single day, almost. During the past few months, you hear about attacks of the Israeli Air Force, because the thing is that, according to the agreement, Hezbollah is not allowed to rebuild this military infrastructure in southern Lebanon. They do this, so we attack them.

Sarah: Right, yeah, UN Security Council Resolution 1701.[crosstalk]

Ahikam: The thing about this, let me tell you something, me, as a journalist, I stopped reporting about this, because it’s not news, it’s something usual that happens.

Sarah: Constant, right, it’s constant.

Ahikam: Yes.

Sarah: So, the IDF has been attacking the military bases, right? But are they careful to avoid the Hezbollah strongholds, the communities where Hezbollah is operating[?]

Ahikam: Can you repeat the question, please?

Sarah: The IDF, I think, only specifically attacks the Hezbollah-controlled military bases, but not where the people are living, right?

Ahikam: Yeah, but the thing about Lebanon is that, in a way, it’s similar to Gaza, but it’s very different.

Sarah: Yeah, so this is just two of the seven fronts that Israel’s fighting right now. And I know, like, there’s a Cub Scout training group that starts at about age four, six, eight, and they’re propagandizing their minds to just join Hezbollah. And before you know it, these are all recruited to[?] Hezbollah. It’s, we’ve done a lot of work on that. It’s really…

Ahikam: I got back[?].

Sarah: Yeah, you got back[?]. So, we saw that the Cub Scout group, that their brains are being brainwashed to join Hezbollah at a very young age. And we keep seeing- I keep seeing these videos of these young kids with these, homages to Khamenei and to Nasrallah. And somehow they can’t escape. This is the way, it’s almost in their DNA at this point. So, how is Israel… Do you think Israel is going to live with this war, with the war for Hamas and the five other fronts that they have to worry about?

Ahikam: I think that we in Israel must understand that it will never end. Like, we have… The Middle East has been for decades and centuries, and it didn’t stop. Take Lebanon, for instance. You have seven different, what you call the English sects, right? It’s a word in English.

Sarah: Seven fronts of…

Ahikam: Religious groups. Yes, segments.

Sarah: Segments, right.

Ahikam: Yes. You have like, I don’t know, a few big religious groups or segments, and they have been fighting each other. The same groups for hundreds of years. The same wars in both Syria and Lebanon. So, this is how this region works. And we are, unfortunately, must understand, in my opinion, it will have to be part of this. Like, even if you took Israel out of the equation, there were still wars in the Middle East. And what I want to say about the people you’re talking to, it’s like the people who are brainwashed and all this. And it’s very interesting, actually. It’s the Shia Muslims of southern Lebanon. Historically, they have been enemies with the Sunni Muslims. So, I can’t, like, I will need an hour to talk about this. But it’s not natural that they have been supporting the Palestinian or Hamas. But it’s another conversation.

Sarah: Right.

Ahikam: Now in their religious, in their belief, they had a saint who were killed. Shia saint who was killed more than a thousand years ago by the Sunni Muslim. And they want to maim[?]him. And they want to be like him. So, all this suicide war, it’s part- it’s something very fundamental of their faith. And in Hezbollah land, as you call this in my report, the people are actually a fundamental part of the organization. It’s like, it’s different. Like, ISIS was different. It wasn’t like this. It was a bunch of crazy people. They did have some families to support them, I guess. But it’s not like Hezbollah. Hezbollah and the people are like one thing. What I’m saying? Nasrallah used to speak to them as a father in his conversation. He used to say- he was like very talented speaker. He had catchphrases like, “You guys are the most honorable people and most pure people.” And they call it the environment of the resistance. Now, the environment is the people, is the- civil environment that supports them. It’s either al-bi’ah al-ḥāḍinah, bi’at al-muqāwama, which means the environment of the resistance, or al-bi’ah al-ḥāḍinah, the environment that adapts, the adaptive environment. And these are the people who send their children to become Hezbollah soldiers. These are the people who have their life run by Hezbollah. Hezbollah bank, Hezbollah- they have education system. They have hospitals. It’s like a country within a country. And I don’t know. It’s like Hezbollah is the Shia people, and the Shia people is Hezbollah, mostly Lebanon. Not all of them, but it’s something very deep, very deep-rooted.

Sarah: Right. Recently, the president of Lebanon was saying that there could be no armed forces outside of the Lebanese armed forces. But I don’t think that’s possible. They are such a powerful force to begin with.

Ahikam: Now, the Lebanese president, let me tell you something. He is cute. When I first saw him, he looks cool. He looks like a movie star. He’s tall, and he was the chief of staff and all of this. When I first saw him, I was impressed. He speaks like no one ever spoke or something like this. Of course, he could speak like this because Israel worked hard[?] to break down Hezbollah. It wasn’t so scary like it was a year ago. But it’s been a year now since he was elected, and I think that it’s just declarations. I don’t think he really has the power to do this. Hopefully, I really hope I’m wrong, but no, it’s like, “I will beat them down.” A month later, “I will beat them down.”

Sarah: Right. So do you think the Israelis are feeling comfortable to go back to their farms and their communities near Lebanon?

Ahikam: I think that something changed. There was a change of heart. We now know that we’re also allowed to attack. We are also allowed to be aggressive, not because it’s a good thing, but because we don’t have a choice. And this is what we have been doing for a few months, and this is what we will do. And when you act like this, you don’t feel like a sitting duck. You know what I’m saying?

Sarah: Yeah.

Ahikam: Before the war, we were sitting ducks. So in a way, the war changed many things, and this is one of them.

Sarah: Right. So right now, as you know, everybody is waiting with bated breath to see whether or not the United States, which has brought a formidable force into the area around Iran, or Iran will attack first. And what’s going to happen, not only to the U.S. military bases, but to Israel. Because, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, had said he will flatten Haifa and he will flatten Tel Aviv. So let’s go now and reveal what’s happened to some of the people who have been tortured by this horrible Islamic regime.

Ahikam: [foreign language]Now, while the whole world turns its eyes to Iran and the brave Iranian demonstrators attempting to overthrow the Ayatollah regime, I sat down to talk with someone who knows the insides of Tehran’s tortured prisons. Hamid Mutasher an Iranian anti-regime activist. [foreign language]Hamid, who was a university lecturer in Iran, fled the country in his 30s and now resides outside the country. The region he comes from is called Ahwaz in southern Iran, and is also known as Khuzestan. In the past, the region used to be an independent Arab emirate. But 100 years ago, it was conquered by the Persians. Considered the country’s richest region in oil, Iran has a good reason to hold on to it. Therefore, Iran harshly oppresses its Arab minority of about 4 million, to which Hamid belongs. [foreign language]You heard that right. Hamid is strongly attacking Palestinian terrorism. For him, the real occupation is the Iranian occupation of Ahwaz. Hamid believes the Arab world ignores an Arab country where occupation actually takes place. Hamid’s organization, the Ahwaz Liberal Party, is committed to this issue.[foreign language] And now, the voice is on the ground in Ahwaz, a region in flames. [foreign language]At this point in our conversation, Hamid decides to take advantage of this platform as an Israeli channel. [foreign language]Persians are not the only people in Iran. The country is home to many minorities. Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, but also a persecuted minority of Arabs, attempting to claim their own destiny.

Sarah: So we are all watching with bated breath, and we’ve seen the Islamic Republic has said maybe 5,000 protesters were killed. And Abbas Araghchi said, “Oh, we respect human life. We haven’t killed anyone.” And then the Norwegian[?] reporting agency said at least 35,000 protesters have been killed. Do you think at this point, the American government has waited so long to strike that the protesters have lost the momentum? Are they afraid to go back onto the streets?

Ahikam: First of all, I want to address that I’m not a big Iran expert, like Iran is Persian. I don’t speak the language. And we have another reporter who does the Iran thing in my channel, in our 14th channel. So what I’m going to say now is not as an expert, it’s just as a person who follows the news. You asked me if they lost their momentum. I don’t know. Hopefully they did. But we’ll have to check. I think they also wait to see what Trump is up to. And it will all be evolved according to this decision.

Sarah: Okay. Do you believe, as a person, that there is a correlation between the amount of moral fortitude and strength that the United States shows Iran, and what will happen to Hamas and Hezbollah and these other terrorist groups, the Houthis?

Ahikam: Ah, no, this for sure. That I can easily say. Of course that it will be a harsh blow for them. Hamas has been financed by Iran. Hezbollah is like an Iranian proxy. The Houthis all over the place. So regarding this issue, of course, I’m really hopeful that Trump will beat them up and will eliminate them. It will do good for the region, in my opinion. But you will see, I don’t know, I think most probably new candidates like maybe Erdogan, who knows, try to fill up…

Sarah: Right. So I don’t know if you’ve been, well, you have been following Erdogan’s visit to Saudi Arabia, and how Saudi Arabia on October 6, 2023, was almost ready to sign the Abraham Accords. What has happened with Saudi Arabia?

Ahikam: There’s recently a very interesting development on this field, because I don’t know if you guys are aware of this, but there is a big tension nowadays between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, because they both have proxies. They both compete over control. They both want to show themselves as empires, and they have proxies in both Sudan and Yemen that fight each other. There was a big thing now in Yemen, and it has nothing to do with the Houthis. The Houthis only control one part of Yemen. Two other parts were controlled by Emirati proxy and Saudi proxy. The Emirati proxy attacked Saudi Arabia [inaudible]. Saudi Arabia [inaudible] they attacked the Emirati proxies. Big mess there. Big tension. Now, the thing now is that Saudis associate the Emirates with Israel. Okay. It’s like a new alliance, because it’s like the recent alliance that has been formed. It’s Israel, United States, and the Emirates. It really makes everything more tense.

Sarah: It’s very tense. Saudi Arabia and[crosstalk] Mohammed bin Salman and Erdogan…

Ahikam: So when you come to answer the question… Yeah, like when you answer the question, is peace agreement coming or not, you also need to address this issue, and this issue is a big deal.

Sarah: Right, and it just shows, even if, God forbid, Israel weren’t in the picture in the inter-Arab relationships, there’s so much discord among themselves.

Ahikam: Yes, of course.

Sarah: It’s terrible. So, we have some time to read some of the questions that have come in. To what extent are Gaza clans-this is from my good friend Mel Seman- to what extent are Gaza clans able to confront Hamas?

Ahikam: The thing is that Hamas have a few, like, I don’t know if I’m not wrong, 30,000 terrorists, armed terrorists. They only have like a few hundred[ each, and they can damage them, they can harm them, they can capture leaders, but they do this in collaboration with Israel. And it’s not- I’ve got to be honest, it’s not a military alternative, but it’s a thing that happens, and it helps us a lot on specific cases.

Sarah: Right. So, do you have any idea how many of the people, is there any way of gauging, at this point, after these two and a half years of war, how many people are in favor of Hamas? Do you know, of the Palestinians that are against Hamas, what percent of Gazans are anti-Hamas?

Ahikam: It’s a wonderful question. It’s very interesting. And let me tell you something, one of my main information sources during this war has been TikTok. Now, you will be surprised how addicted Gazans are to TikTok. And they don’t use it like we use this in the West. They document their life. And it’s not only for children. You see 60-year-old people bored, sitting in the refugee camp and talk to the camera and give lectures. So you see a lot of bitterness and a lot of hatred towards Hamas during the war. But one other thing that we also need to address is that, like we said, Hezbollah is something very fundamental in southern Lebanon. Hamas has also been very fundamental in the Gaza Strip. It grew in the Gaza Strip. It evolved in the Gaza Strip and it became what it is also thanks to the civilians who supported it. It was also part of the population. They started as a social movement. They had hobbies for children, classes for women, all these kind of things. This is how this movement, it’s a social movement for its terror organization. And some families, not some families, many families, like a big percentage of the Gaza Strip residents are associated with Hamas, have been Hamas supporters before the war. Of course, there have been Hamas supporters before the war. But also on this Gaza, I think is different from Lebanon, that Hamas always had an opposition within the Gaza Strip. You have Fatah and you have people who are more, you’ll be surprised to hear this, but more radical than Hamas or not radical, but they’re associated with ISIS. Nowadays, we know Hamas is ISIS. They are associated with other groups, whatever. So they did have opposition. Now the effect of the war is, I think, of course, many people are mad at Hamas. And I see this on TikTok all day, all the time. I cannot tell you the percentage of Hamas supporters and Hamas haters, but there’s a big sentiment against Hamas. And there’s an obvious sentiment of Hamas supporters. And even nowadays, you see this on the media. You see Hamas supporters speak in favor of Hamas on TikTok.[crosstalk] If I may…

Sarah: Right. Go ahead.

Ahikam: No one asked me, but it’s a very interesting thing. I think you guys would love to hear this. The terminology changed during the war. They called this Tufan al-Aqsa, the October 7th attack. You guys know what it is. It’s like the tornado of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Tufan al-Aqsa. Now, they started calling this on TikTok, and I saw this in more than one video and more than two videos. They call this Tufan- two names, Tufan al-Majari, which means the tornado of sewage. And another name is Tufan al-Khara, which means tornado of shit, of crap. And this is how they see this because they saw what happened to their life. They understand. It’s very simple.

Sarah: Are they disguised when they say this? Because people are afraid of Hamas.

Ahikam: Yes, and many people are surprised, but I think that 2026 dictatorships, they cannot deal with anyone who speaks on top. It’s too difficult. Sometimes when someone exaggerates, they take him and then they beat up his legs. And the Sahm units we talked about, the Arrow unit, they take him if he exaggerates. You remember, I don’t know if you saw this video, a guy who said, “Trump,” and did this- Trump, Netanyahu. Remember this video?

Sarah: Yes.

Ahikam: A black Gazan of African origin. So they took him. I follow him on TikTok, and they took him, the Sahm unit, the Arrow unit, and they broke his leg and they shared this video all over the place. This guy, I don’t know. They want to deter. So every now and then, they take a scapegoat.

Sarah: Right.

Ahikam: But there’s a lot of criticism, and they’re not afraid. One more interesting example, I will be short.

Sarah: That’s great.

Ahikam: They called the October 7th in Arabic, Sabah Ashara. That’s 7th, 10th. Okay, October 7th. They call it Sabah Kundera[?], 7th of Eshu. And Eshu is a very offensive image in[crosstalk] Arabic culture. And this is the new name. And I know I speak to Gazan. I know it’s the new slang. I know this is what they call it. I know it’s a terminology. It’s not like one video, and that’s it.

Sarah: Yeah. Right. Okay, so people-

Ahikam: This is the new image[?] of Gaza.

Sarah: Right. So Steve Woodcuff, Jared Kushner, Tom Baracck. Do any of them have any sense of what the reality is, both in Gaza and in Lebanon, as well as in Syria?

Ahikam: I bet they’re very educated and very well-versed and very smart, but I would recommend them watch Gaza TikTok. Let’s put it this way.

Sarah: Yeah, right. Okay. And other questions. If a war were to break out between Iran, the United States, and Israel, do you think that Hezbollah will join in?

Ahikam: They do have this suicidal instinct, as we addressed. It’s not- on one hand, they’re smart. They know that they’re vulnerable, and if they want to rebuild, they have to be smart and lay low, but I don’t know. It’s like, but this is, well, on one hand, but on the other hand, they are sick people who have this suicidal instinct in them for hundreds of years- suicidal bombers, suicidal terrorists. It started from Hezbollah because it’s something fundamental in their Shia faith.

Sarah: All right. So, and one final question. Are there still weapons being smuggled in from Syria into Lebanon, or has that- I mean, for all of his flaws, has Ahmad al-Sharaa stopped that?

Ahikam: I can’t- I don’t know if it happened hermetically or completely. No one can tell. I don’t know. Me, personally, I have no idea, but I can for sure say that he’s very proud of this, and whenever he catches them- he hates Hezbollah because Hezbollah are Shia, and he’s a Sunni. They have been fighting each other, bloody war in Syria, and I could speak an hour about the hatred between these two factions. But whenever he catches them, he shows everyone what he did. It’s like, “Oh, look, there is a box of cucumbers here.” Then we move the cucumbers. What do you see? An RPG. And then he shows the whole world. And then he shows the whole world that they found it.

Sarah: Right. Well, we’ve seen that from Gaza, too, baby blankets in which the explosives are smuggled in. It’s really horrible. So, sof sipor[?], the end of the story is, you know, no matter what some of our politicians might be saying to us, peace has not broken out throughout the Middle East. It’s a very dangerous place, and we all have to be very vigilant. Really. Thank you so much, Ahikam Himmelfarb. These videos are wonderful. We’re going to post this on YouTube. Please make sure to show these to all of your friends and family. I think it’s very important to know what our brave IDF soldiers are up against in the state of Israel and how they have all been risking their very lives prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for the state of Israel and for Western civilization as we know it. Thank you so much, Ahikam.

Ahikam: Thank you so much, Sarah. It was a wonderful conversation. I enjoyed it. I invite you guys to follow me on TikTok- on Twitter. I don’t operate a TikTok account. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Sarah: Thank you. Thanks again. If anybody would like to support us, we do this every week, and we’re on Capitol Hill all week. Please go to emetonline.org. And when in Israel and even in the United States, if you could get onto Channel 14 News and follow Ahikam Himmelfarb. His work is really superb. Thank you.
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