Reuters reports a poll of Palestinians taken in Gaza and the West Bank finds 72% of the respondents:
Believe the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel was correct, and the ensuing Gaza war has lifted support for the Islamist group both there and in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Center for Policy Survey and Research (PCPSR) findings were published as international alarm grows over the spiralling Palestinian civilian toll in the Israeli counter-offensive against Hamas, now in its third month.
Fifty-two percent of Gazans and 85% of West Bank respondents - or 72% of Palestinian respondents overall - voiced satisfaction with the role of Hamas in the war.
This article is misleading, and I believe the intent was to mislead. Especially the comment "lifted support both there and in the West Bank." The data don't support that claim. People in Gaza who have experienced the IDF's punishing bombing and destruction aren't nearly so fond of having their butts shot off. Close to half don't support the Hamas attack.
Who overwhelmingly supports (85%) the Hamas attack are those sitting safely in the West Bank experiencing none of the violent consequences. It's a sort of "Why don't you go hit that bully I don't like?" reaction. Israel got hurt and it didn't cost the West Bank a lot.
Combining the data of Gaza and West Bank respondents to get an overall average of 72% made for a nice scare headline. The real finding for those being punished for the attack is that barely half still think it was a good idea. Israel needs to keep punishing Gaza until nearly everybody there concludes the Hamas attack was a dumb move.
As the fake Mad Eye Moody answered when asked what he was doing when he'd transfigured Malfoy into a ferret and bounced him up and down violently, Mad Eye replied "teaching." Sometimes pain is the only lesson a bully takes to heart.
