WASHINGTON: A majority of Americans now disapprove Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip, compared to November, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.
According to the latest results from March 1-20 survey, approval has dropped from 50 percent to 36 percent since November, while 55 percent currently disapprove.
As many as 74 percent of US adults say they are following news of the Israeli-Hamas situation “closely,” similar to the 72 percent Gallup measured in November. One-third of Americans (34 percent) say they are following the situation ‘very closely.”
All three major party groups in the US have become “less supportive” of Israel’s actions in Gaza than they were in November, which includes declines of 18 percentage points in approval among both Democrats and independents and a seven-point decline among Republicans.
“Independents have shifted from being divided in their views of the Israeli military action to opposing it. Democrats, who were already largely opposed in November, are even mo
re so now, with 18 percent approving and 75 percent disapproving.
“Republicans still support Israel’s military efforts, but a reduced majority – 64 percent, down from 71 percent – now approve,” the poll found.
Earlier this week, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in the month of Ramadan. The US abstained from the vote, rather than use its veto that followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cancelation of a visit by his senior advisers to the White House.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.
More than 32,200 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,500 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
Source: Philippines News Agency