A majority of Americans think the United States should help Palestinians get out of harm’s way for Israel’s attack on Hamas, according to a new poll.
The Reuters/IPSOS poll found that 78% of those surveyed agreed that “American diplomats should actively be working on a plan to allow civilians fleeing fighting in Gaza to move to a safe country.”
Another 22% disagreed. Those who agreed were a bipartisan group with 94% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans agreeing.
Similarly, 81% of those polled agreed that Israel should avoid killing civilians in its retaliatory strikes against Hamas, while 19% disagreed.
Republicans at 54% sided with Israel’s position more than Democrats at 37%.
Hamas, the terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Since then, officials have said over 2,000 have been killed on both sides, including at least 22 Americans.
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Israel’s military on Friday gave roughly 1 million Palestinians about 24 hours to evacuate northern Gaza and head South, hinting at a forthcoming attack.
The poll found that support for Israel from Americans is higher now than it was in a survey from 2014 when Israeli forces launched a military operation against Hamas.
In the 2014 poll, 22% of those surveyed said the U.S. should support Israel.
In the new poll, 41% said the U.S. should support Israel, while only 2% said the U.S. should support the Palestinians and 21% said the U.S. should be a neutral mediator.
Another 21% said the U.S. shouldn’t be involved at all.
The poll also found that a larger amount of the younger respondents, about 40%, thought the U.S. should be a neutral mediator, which was roughly double the 19% of people aged 40 and over who thought the same thing.
Only 20% of those under the age of 40 supported Israel, while 53% of those 40 and over supported Israel’s position.
The two-day poll closed on Friday and gathered responses from 1,003 U.S. adults. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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