Hamzeh was born in Jerusalem to a Muslim father and a Christian mother, both of whom were half Palestinian, half Lebanese. Her experience of life in a Palestinian refugee camp is based on firsthand knowledge--she lived in the Dheisheh camp in Bethlehem for 10 years after first travelling there to report on the Palestinian Intifada of 1990. Hamzeh is an accomplished speaker and has been interviewed by the media throughout the world, including the Channel 4 documentary Talking to the Enemy.