Middle East
Survey among Palestinians: Hamas on the rise, Abbas on the decline
According to a survey, a large majority accuse Western supporters of Israel’s moral failure in the face of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. photo
© Mohammed Talatene/dpa
Hamas’s reputation has risen, according to a survey of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the popularity of Palestinian President Abbas continues to decline. The numbers.
In the Gaza Strip, where more than 18,600 people died, almost 50,600 were injured and major destruction was caused in the Israeli military offensive to destroy Hamas, Hamas’s reputation rose, albeit less sharply, from 38 percent to 42 percent. Meanwhile, the popularity of the more moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continued to decline. According to the survey, 88 percent of those surveyed were in favor of his resignation.
However, opinions differ between Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on the question of whether the Hamas attack on Israel more than two months ago was right. While 82 percent in the West Bank supported the attack, in the directly affected coastal strip it was only 57 percent. However, only 1 percent of respondents in the West Bank and 17 percent in the Gaza Strip believe that Israel could achieve its war goal of destroying Hamas. Almost two thirds expect Hamas to continue to rule the Gaza Strip in the future.
90 percent of those surveyed said Hamas had not committed atrocities in Israel, as evidenced by videos and testimonies from survivors. A large majority accuses Israel’s Western supporters, especially the USA, of moral failure in view of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. A majority believes that Western countries’ support for a two-state solution is not really serious.