A recent public opinion poll conducted in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, conducted between March 5 and 10, by the Palestinian Institute for Policy Research and Surveys, one of the leading Palestinian polling institutes, with a sample of 1,580 people, including 830 people who were interviewed face-to-face in The Western Q and 750 people in the Gaza Strip, reveals that a large majority of the Palestinian public believes that Hamas’s decision to carry out the October 7 attack was “correct”.
According to the survey, 71% believe that the decision to launch the murderous attack was correct. This is compared to 72% who thought so in a survey carried out in December 2023.
Although the support figures for the October 7 murder attack are similar between December 2023 and March 2024, an interesting trend can be observed, according to which support increases among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and decreases among Palestinians in the Palestinian Territories.
According to the latest survey, 71% of those surveyed in Gaza support the decision to carry out the October 7 massacre, compared to 57% in the previous survey.
At the same time, the rate of support for October 7 among the Arabs of Iosh decreased in the latest survey to 71%, compared to 82% in the previous survey.
The explanation for the high level of support for the October 7th massacre is that it reawakened global interest in the Palestinian issue, according to 75% of those surveyed.
According to the survey, the Palestinian public has a high level of satisfaction with the functioning of Hamas, which reaches 70% (75% in Yosh and 62% in the Gaza Strip). Far behind is the Fatah movement, with a satisfaction rate of 27% (24% in Yosh and 32% in the Gaza Strip).
The Palestinian public is also highly satisfied with the performance of the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, with 61% (68% in Yosh and 52% in the Gaza Strip). Far behind him is the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, with a support rate of 14% (8% in Yosh and 22% in Gaza).
However, a study of the data reveals that compared to the previous survey in December 2023, satisfaction with Hamas decreased in Yosh by 10%, while in the Gaza Strip it actually increased by 10%. Satisfaction with Sinuar remained stable in the Gaza Strip and decreased by 13% in Yoh. That. Satisfaction with Fatah increased between the two surveys by 5% in total, with a 1% increase in IOSH and a more significant increase of 11% in the Gaza Strip.
An overwhelming majority of those surveyed – 80% (compared to 85% in December 2023) claimed that they had not seen videos published in the international media that showed atrocities committed by Hamas members against Israeli citizens, such as the killing of women and children in their homes. Only 19% (11% in Yosh and 30% in the Gaza Strip) confirmed that they watched these segments. 93% of those surveyed claim that Hamas did not commit the atrocities shown in the videos.
