Influencer details risky trip to speak with Hamas supporters in West Bank
Zach Sage Fox traveled to the West Bank to see if Palestinian people truly support the Hamas terror group, but he almost didn’t make it out alive.
Comedian and social media influencer Zach Sage Fox traveled to the West Bank to see if Palestinian people truly support the Hamas terror group. He almost didn’t make it out alive.
Fox, who went viral earlier this year when his "Gaza Graduation" video featured anti-Israel protesters in New York City struggling to correctly answer basic questions about the Israel-Hamas war, has been on a crusade to educate his followers since the terror attacks of October 7. He recently brought his popular man-on-the-street style interviews to the West Bank, a contentious territory that Palestinians hope to establish as an independent state along with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Fox, a "loud and proud" Jewish American, was in Israel to create content when a member of his production team offered him the opportunity to enter the West Bank alongside a Muslim producer and cameraman. Fox knew it could be a dangerous project but was interested because American journalists are rarely able to secure unfettered access to Palestinians.
"Israelis are literally not allowed into Palestine; they're not allowed into the West Bank. However, I'm not Israeli, I'm an American Jew, and it doesn't say ‘Jew’ on my passport. So, I was told, ‘As long as you don't say you're Jewish, you know, they're not going to kill you on the spot,’" Fox told Fox News Digital.
Zach Sage Fox traveled to the West Bank to see if Palestinian people truly support the Hamas terror group.
"I really looked in the mirror that night and I said, ‘I think I could pass for Italian,’" Fox continued. "I'm going to take the risk."
To get ready for the daring trip, Fox removed his signature flair, such as jewelry and nail polish, and wore the most "masculine" outfit he had. He didn’t tell most of his friends and family back in America about his plans, explaining that they would likely have talked him out of it.
During the journey, Fox told anyone who asked he was an Italian American and was able to cross the border into the West Bank without issue, which he felt was "kind of shocking."
Fox began his time in the West Bank with a prearranged interview with a man who was described to him by his Muslim producer as a "very smart and civil," "somewhat moderate" thinker who holds a Master’s degree and speaks good English. They sat down at a coffee shop in Ramallah, the Palestinian "capital" located near Jerusalem.
The man denied that "innocent Israelis" were killed during the attacks of October 7, expressed support for Hamas and suggested rape never occurred during the barbaric attacks.
"I realized quickly, if this is someone being presented to me as one of the more educated people, I might be in for a real shock," Fox said.
Then he hit the streets to find locals and recorded a series of spontaneous interviews while walking around Ramallah. But Fox said "things got very contentious very quick" once he hit the streets.
"It was like one after another, massive love and support for Hamas," Fox said.
"I was specifically looking for younger people thinking, OK, someone here is not going to support Hamas. And they all do," he continued. "It really ranged from sympathy to actual love and admiration for Hamas…. I thought I would find at least some people who were not diehard Hamas supporters, and I couldn’t find one."
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Zach Sage Fox recently brought his popular man-on-the-street style interviews to the West Bank. (@zachsagefox)
Fox found several people walking West Bank streets who were quick to express support for the Hamas terror group and declared Israeli hostages should not be released. He said things grew particularly dicey when he tried to interview a woman whose hair was fully covered.
"This Palestinian man comes up, and he starts screaming in Arabic, and my translator and producer tells me he's very upset," Fox said.
Fox recalled the man yelling "something about modesty," and that females shouldn’t speak for all Palestinians. Fox attempted to ignore the man, but he only grew more agitated and started calling additional Palestinian men for support.
"They start screaming in Arabic, and I’m still just trying to be professional and go on and interview people. Eventually, my producer tells me he’s threatening to hurt us if we don’t delete the footage. I’ve never had anything like this happen in my entire career… never, no one threatened violence," Fox said.
"Then that violence turned into death threats very quickly," Fox added, noting that he initially pushed back and refused to delete the footage. "The Arabic started getting louder, more men started coming."
Zach Sage Fox said the West Bank was filled with Hamas supporters. (@zachsagefox)
Fox said he’s probably "crazy," and wanted to continue to stand his ground, but pivoted when his Muslim cameraman said he was terrified for his life.
"Eventually I cave because my cameraman tells me they’re threatening to kill us… we deleted a bunch of the footage in front of him," he said.
"Then my producer and my cameraman grab my arm, we run to the car, and it was a pretty eye-opening experience," he continued. "We really bolted out of Palestine… luckily they didn’t chase us to the car."
Fox enlisted a team of IT specialists who were able to recover some of the footage, and every interview that was salvaged made the viral "Wild West Bank" video. He lost some valuable footage but said he’s "happy to be out of there alive" and is thrilled he recovered enough footage to make an impact.
"Wild West Bank" has been viewed over 4.7 million times on X alone.
Fox noted that many Jewish people don’t refer to the West Bank as "Palestine," but he decided to use that moniker in his video and subsequent conversations about it for "kumbaya purposes."
"Obviously there's a land that Palestinians are living in, and the dream would be that there's a two-state solution, at least for me. However, once I got there, I realized that dream seems further than ever," Fox said.
Last month, the Department of State urged Americans to avoid the West Bank because of "terrorism and civil unrest."
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Fox News Digital’s Alaba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.