Palestinians Largely Support Oct. 7 Massacre, Deny Hamas Guilty of War Crimes: Poll

The vast majority of Palestinians support Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel and do not think the terror group has committed war crimes during its ongoing war with the Jewish state, according to a new poll.

The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found in its latest pubic opinion poll of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank that a striking 72 percent of respondents said Hamas made a “correct” decision to launch its onslaught against Israel.

During the invasion, Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 240 others as hostages, taking them back to Gaza. Hamas’ brutality during the pogrom — which included documented cases of rampant rape and other sexual violence, torture, and beheadings — shocked the world.

Despite the gruesome violence, however, only 10 percent of Palestinians think that Hamas has committed war crimes during the current war, according to the poll. When asked if the terror group, which rules Gaza, was guilty of atrocities “such as the killing of women and children in their homes,” just 16 percent of respondents in Gaza and 1 percent in the West Bank said yes.

Meanwhile, the research found that 95 percent of Palestinians believe Israel has committed war crimes during the ongoing war in Gaza.

Since the outbreak of the war on Oct. 7, US President Joe Biden and other international partners have been pushing for the renewal of peace talks, with the goal of taking steps toward a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Part of this plan, as Biden administration officials have indicated, would see a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority, which currently governs the West Bank, also take charge in Gaza.

However, 64 percent of Palestinians oppose the PA being a party to any peace talks to determine the future of Gaza, and only 7 percent back a PA led by current President Mahmoud Abbas taking charge of the Palestinian enclave. Even without Abbas in charge, only 16 percent of respondents said they want a PA government taking power.

Conversely — and despite Israeli, American, and European statements that Hamas will have no part in post-war Gaza governance — 60 percent of Palestinians are in favor of the terror group retaining power, the poll found. Specifically, 75 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank expressed support for Hamas retaining control, compared to only 38% in Gaza.

Beyond the immediate region, the poll’s findings show that 87 percent of Palestinians think that the response to the war of the US and other major Western powers, such as the UK, France, and Germany, “show disregard to international humanitarian law.”

Furthermore, 70 percent of respondents said that Western declarations in support of a two-state solution are “not serious.” On that same topic, most Palestinians are opposed to a two-state solution themselves, the poll found, with 34% in favor and 64% opposed. Indeed, a strong majority of Palestinians — 63 percent — said “armed struggle” against Israel is the best way forward to “end occupation and establish an independent state” — an increase of ten percentage points compared to three months ago.

Throughout most of the survey, support for Hamas and its objectives were much higher among Palestinians in the West Bank than in Gaza. For example, when it comes to the overall favorability of Hamas’ rule in Gaza, 85 percent of West Bank Palestinians expressed “satisfaction with the role of Hamas,” compared to just 52 percent of Gazans.

Another disparity between West Bank and Gaza Palestinians can be seen in the support for Hamas leadership, such as Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the terror group’s political bureau who is currently living in Qatar. In a hypothetical election between Abbas and Haniyeh, the latter would easily win in the West Bank, 82 percent to 10 percent, the poll found. In Gaza, Haniyeh would still trounce Abbas, but by a smaller margin: 71 percent to 24 percent. However, overall voter turnout would be only 53 percent.

According to the polling, Marwan Barghouti, a senior member of Abbas’ Fatah political faction, would defeat both men in a hypothetical election and is “the most popular Palestinian figure.”

The newly released poll, which was conducted from Nov. 22-Dec. 2, included a sample size of 1231 adults, of whom 750 were interviewed face to face in the West Bank and 481 in the Gaza Strip in 121 randomly selected locations.

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