More than 40% of Americans now think Israel is going “too far” in its response to Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, according to a new poll.
Survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal found 42 percent of Americans believe that Israel’s actions in Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attack were “overreach.” 19% said not enough progress was made, 24% said it was about right, and 15% were unsure or refused to answer.
About 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 attack on southern Israel, and about 240 more were captured by insurgents and taken to Gaza as hostages. In the months since then, Israel has carried out attacks on Gaza in what it calls an effort to eliminate Hamas.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said last week that more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in fighting since the war began. Authorities do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but local health authorities and the United Nations have noted that most of the dead have been women and children.
The poll also asked respondents about their opinion that the United States is providing sufficient support to Israelis and Palestinians. Thirty percent say the United States is giving too much aid to Israel, 25% say it is giving too little, and 32% say it is about the right amount.
The share of people who think the US is doing too much in aid to Israel has increased since December, with just 22% saying it is doing too much.
The percentage of respondents who say the United States has done little to help the Palestinian people has also increased since December. In the latest opinion poll, 33% of respondents said the US response was too little, up from 26% in December.
24% said the US is giving the Palestinians too much aid, while 25% said it is giving the Palestinians the right amount of aid. The poll came as the United States began delivering humanitarian aid via cargo plane to the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning as the war continued.
The poll was conducted among 750 registered voters between February 21 and February 28, and had a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.
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