Juman Al Qawasmi, the daughter of one of Hamas’s early leaders and founders, has broken with both the organisation and Islam. In interviews, she recounts how she was taught to hate and kill Jews and Christians – and how Jesus led her to Christianity in a dream.
Al Qawasmi grew up in Qatar in a family with close ties to Hamas. Her father, known as Muhammad Al Qawasmi or Abu Jaafar, was one of the organisation’s early key figures. She married a member of Hamas and lived in Gaza for many years.
– Jesus will return, ‘break the cross’, kill the pig and exterminate Jews and Christians
According to Al Qawasmi herself, from childhood she was shaped by an ideology in which hatred of Jews, Christians and ‘false Muslims’ was central.
– We used to curse all Christians and Jews. We felt we should kill them because that is what the Qur’an commands us to do, she has said.
She also speaks of the Islamic end-times belief propagated within Hamas circles: Jesus (Isa) will return, ‘break the cross’, kill the pig and help Muslims to exterminate all Jews and Christians. This is a tradition derived from the hadith texts and is actively preached in Islamic circles.
Gradually, Al Qawasmi began to question both Hamas’s rule in Gaza and the religion she had grown up with. She never experienced inner peace as a Muslim, only a constant fear of not being good enough for Allah.
During the war between Israel and Hamas in 2014, she prayed to God: ‘If you exist, I want to know you.’
– “I am God and Jesus. You are my daughter. Do not be afraid.”
Later, in a dream, she saw the face of Jesus emerge from the moon. He spoke to her in Arabic and said that he is “God and Jesus. You are my daughter. Do not be afraid”.
The dream proved to be a turning point. She began searching for information online, found Christian websites in Arabic and was struck by the message to love one’s enemies – an attitude that stood in stark contrast to the hatred she had been taught as a Muslim.
The daughter of one of the founding leaders of Hamas left Islam and converted to Christianity.
She explains how they are all brought up to kill Jews and Christians.
They even have a different version of Jesus, in which he will return and ‘break the cross’, and help Muslims kill everyone…
— Dr Maalouf (@realMaalouf) 10 October 2026
Al Qawasmi made contact with Christians, read the Bible and converted to Christianity. Because apostasy from Islam carries the death penalty, she kept her faith secret for a long time. She eventually managed to escape from Gaza and is now living under protection at an unknown location.
The son and daughter of Hamas – born into a system of fear and hostility
Her story has received a great deal of attention in Christian and pro-Israeli media. It bears similarities to another well-known defection from Hamas, that of Mosab Hassan Yousef – known as the ‘Son of Hamas’.
In 1999, he came into contact with a British missionary, which led him to start reading the Bible and gradually turn to Christianity. He was secretly baptised in Tel Aviv in 2005 and kept his faith hidden for many years for fear of his family’s safety and persecution by Islamic groups. In 2008, he publicly announced his conversion and distanced himself from Hamas.
Al Qawasmi now describes the ideological upbringing and the religion she left behind as a system of fear and hostility.
She emphasises the inner peace she has found in the Christian faith.
