Five Months Into the War, Residents of Both the West Bank and Gaza Justify Hamas’ Attack
Palestinian children in Deir al-Balah, earlier this month.
More than five months after the war began in the Gaza Strip, accompanied by severe movement restrictions and mass arrests in the West Bank, Palestinian support for the October 7 attacks remains high and has even risen among Gaza residents, according to a new poll.
The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research earlier this month, also found that most Palestinians still don’t believe Hamas perpetrated atrocities during the attack.
Most also said they have not watched footage from the attack. As it turns out, contrary to Israeli expectations, they don’t see Hamas as responsible for their suffering and aren’t punishing it with reduced support.
Fully 71 percent of Gazan respondents said that Hamas’ decision to carry out the October 7 attack was correct. That compares to 57 percent in the previous poll, conducted in December. Only 23 percent deemed the decision incorrect.
The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research poll found that most Palestinians still don’t believe Hamas perpetrated atrocities during the attack.
An identical 71 percent of West Bank residents deemed the decision correct, though this was down from 82 percent in December. Only 16 percent of West Bank respondents deemed it incorrect.
The pollsters questioned 1,580 residents of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza between March 5 and 10. To ensure the pollsters’ safety, the Gazan survey was conducted only in areas where no fighting was occurring, meaning Rafah, central Gaza and parts of Khan Yunis. No interviews were conducted in doubly besieged northern Gaza.
Dr. Khalil Shikaki, the research center’s director and the person who oversaw the survey, said the ongoing support for Hamas’ attack stems in part from the assessment that the war has revived international interest in the Palestinian cause. Three-fourths of survey respondents said it “could lead to increased recognition of Palestinian statehood.”
Fully 62 percent of Gazan respondents expressed support for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, almost double the 35 percent who said the same in December. In the West Bank, in contrast, support for this solution to the conflict was almost unchanged, at 34 percent. Support for the idea of a single state for both peoples stood at 24 percent, down slightly from 29 percent in December.
A decisive majority of respondents expressed satisfaction with the performance of both Hamas and its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, since the war began. But the numbers were higher in the West Bank, at 75 percent and 68 percent respectively, than in Gaza, where they stood at 62 and 52 percent.
In contrast, few Palestinians were satisfied by the performance of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party. In the West Bank, only 24 percent were satisfied with Fatah and just 8 percent with Abbas; in Gaza, the numbers were 32 percent and 22 percent respectively.