Poll finds most Americans view Hamas as responsible for war

9 December 2023, 9:31 am

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Illustrative: A Hamas terrorist stands guard as a Red Cross vehicle transports newly released hostages in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on November 28, 2023. (AFP)

A poll finds that most Americans view Hamas as responsible for the war between Israel and the terror group in Gaza.

The Pew Research Center survey finds that 65 percent of Americans believe Hamas bears a lot of responsibility for the current conflict, while 35% put the blame on the Israeli government.

However, the poll finds that while the majority of both Republican and Democrat supporters held Hamas responsible, Democrats are more than twice as likely as Republicans to lay the blame on Israel.

The survey also finds that younger Americans are less likely to blame Hamas for the war.

Only 46% of adults ages 18 to 29 say Hamas has a lot of responsibility for the war. That compares with majorities of 60% or more among older age groups.

The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 5,203 respondents is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.

The war started after the October 7, Hamas assault on southern Israel in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and some 240 taken hostage.