Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian Muslim, and Rami Elhanan, an Israeli Jew, lost their daughters in the conflicts in the Middle East.
Both live in Israel.
Many would expect them to act like enemies after personal tragedies.
But instead of seeking revenge, Bassam and Rami chose a different path: peace and friendship.
An Israeli policeman shot Bassam's ten-year-old daughter Abir, fatally wounding her.
Rami's daughter Smadar was killed in a suicide attack by Hamas. She was 14 years old.
They say that "unbearable pain" prompted them to build a friendship.
They call each other "brother".
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"We are not animals, we can use our heads on our own. And you start asking yourself - is killing anybody going to bring my daughter back?'' Rami says.
"Even if you kill the rest of the Jews on Earth, not just the Israelis, I will never see my daughter again," Bassam said.
Parent circle
After their daughters were killed, both fathers joined the parents' organization The Parents Circle Families Forum, a peace and reconciliation group for people who have lost children in the Middle East conflict, the largest in decades.
Rami, who was a soldier in the Israeli army, sees Bassam as a leader.
"He is the closest person to me on Earth... We don't need words to understand each other... I try to emulate him. He gives me strength," Rami told the BBC.
Bassam, who in his youth was imprisoned for throwing a grenade at Israelis, now treats Rami like his own brother.
"We are brothers. Our relationship is above conflict because we share the same values.
"We care about human beings, we care about civilians, we care about democracy and freedom," Bassam told the BBC.
A spiral of violence
Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip since Hamas attacks on October 7 killed 1.400 people in Israel and took at least 239 hostages.
The Hamas-run health ministry said more than 10.000 Palestinians had been killed since the Israeli retaliation began.
It is the continuation of a decades-long "cycle of violence," as Bassam and Rami refer to the ongoing conflict.
Death of Smadar
It was September 4, 1997.
Smadar was shopping in Jerusalem with her friends when the bomb exploded.
Rami and his wife Nurit searched desperately for her for hours.
"We went from hospital to hospital, from police station to police station," Rami recalls.
“Until you end up in the morgue later that night and that's it. You're seeing a sight you'll never, ever forget for the rest of your life."
"Anger is unbearable. And the main thing about this pain is that it never goes away. It follows you for 59 seconds every minute."
A Hamas bomb and an Israeli bullet
Rami and Bassam met for the first time in 2005 at a meeting of Fighters for Peace (Combatants for Peace), organizations of ex-combatants from both sides.
They all seek peace.
Basam's 6-year-old daughter, Abir, was seriously wounded on January 2007, XNUMX, when she was hit by a rubber bullet fired by an Israeli border guard outside her school in the West Bank.
She died two days later in hospital.
"I feel anger, and I'm still angry to this day, because we're all human beings and it's natural to feel anger," Bassam said.
"Revenge will not lessen our suffering"
"But I am a believer and I know that revenge is not the solution. They won't give me my daughter back."
Rami and his wife stood next to Basam and his family in the hospital, on behalf of the Parent Circle organization.
"For me, it was like losing my daughter for the second time," Rami said.
Two days later, Bassam also joined the Parents Circle.
Breaking the 'cycle of violence'
Bassam and Rami are now a team and speak together at rallies and conferences.
"If there was no occupation, we [wouldn't] have to kill each other. We don't have to fight each other and it's wave after wave. It's a sea of blood. That's enough," said Bassam in connection with the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 on the land that until then was the land of Palestine.
Unusually for an Israeli Jew, Rami also refers to the "occupation" when asked about the role of the Parents' Circle in mitigating conflict and hostilities.
"It is not normal for one nation to dominate another. The Israeli occupation is an abnormal situation. We lost our children because of that situation and we have to change it."
The two are addressing young people, including high school students from both sides.
As Rami describes it, it's like "stepping into the open mouth of an active volcano... There's a sea of blood in those two nations, there's a lot of emotion."
"And the response is incredible. Sometimes it can be very, very difficult, you know, accusations, sometimes [expletives], sometimes aggression.
"But by the end of the class, [even if] there's only one child nodding their head in acceptance of this message, that's a miracle. We saved one drop of blood. You know, in Judaism one drop of blood is the whole world."
Farewell
After the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 of this year and the Israeli retaliation, Rami says that peace talks are particularly challenging.
"The atmosphere is very heavy".
He told the BBC that he receives a lot of hate mail.
"Hamas cannot kill like a fly or a mosquito. Hamas is an idea. You have to drain the swamp instead of killing mosquitoes," Rami said.
Lasting peace
Both fathers hope that lasting peace will be achieved during their lifetime.
"I met my daughter's killer in court. I call him a victim. I told him, 'You didn't kill the enemy or terrorists, you just killed a XNUMX-year-old innocent girl,'" Bassam said.
"He is a victim of his education, his story, his history."
His message is not only for Israelis and Palestinians, but also for everyone involved in conflicts and wars around the world.
"When you get rid of hatred, revenge, you become a free man. No one can occupy you and you have no enemy to defeat.
"By the way, I'm not a coward. I will take revenge without any mercy. But what will it change? Nothing."
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