From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 29, 2024
IDF says documents found in Gaza show Hamas was falsifying prominent polling results
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF has recovered Hamas documents from the Gaza Strip that it says prove the terror group has been secretly falsifying the results of polls conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR).
Still, the IDF says that the documents do not prove that PCPSR was cooperating with Hamas, but rather that the terror group was conducting clandestine actions to fraudulently influence the results of the polls.
PCPSR is run by prominent Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki.
According to the IDF, the documents it recovered in Gaza “prove an extensive effort by the terror organization to falsify the results of [the PCPSR] polls, to create a false representation of the Gazan public’s support for the terror organization, especially after the massacre on October 7.”
“These documents are part of a systematic process, the purpose of which is to disguise the collapse of the organization, and the collapse of public support for it,” the IDF accuses.
The military says the documents “emphasize the importance that the Hamas terror organization sees in the results of the polls, to falsify Palestinian support and to influence the Palestinian public and Arab and international public opinion.”
An alleged Hamas document released by the IDF shows the results of a PCPSR poll from March 2024, with both the original data and the falsified numbers. The published poll showed 71% of Palestinians supporting the October 7 Hamas attack, while the IDF says the actual data showed support from just 30.7% of respondents.
“The documents show that the falsified results are in favor of the organization and its leaders, with an emphasis on Yahya Sinwar,” the military says.
