Sixty percent of Israelis say Israel’s next step in the war against Hamas should be to secure a hostage deal, compared to 31% of respondents who say Israel should first move ahead with plans to take over Gaza City, according to a poll aired on Channel 12.
The results indicate that the majority of Israelis disagree with the government’s decision to move ahead with the Gaza City operation, ignoring the phased proposal that Hamas accepted on August 18.
Sixty-five percent of respondents say the most important war aim is returning the hostages, compared to 27% who say it is destroying Hamas.
This, too, appears to indicate that the public does not agree with the government, which has made both the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas official war aims. However, at times, Netanyahu had indicated that the latter takes precedent, which the decision to ignore the phased deal on the table further indicates.
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From the Liveblog of
Friday, August 29, 2025
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