Friday’s poll revealed that about half of Israelis wanted to refrain from any invasion of Gaza, indicating a decline in popular support for Israel’s actions in its war against Hamas.
The Maariv newspaper polled a representative sample of 522 Israeli adults. The margin of error is 4.3 per cent.
29 per cent of Israelis backed an immediate large-scale ground offensive, while 49 per cent favoured postponing the operation. 22 per cent were undecided, according to the Maariv poll. The results are in stark contrast to a similar poll conducted on October 19, when 65 per cent of Israelis supported a major ground offensive.
“From a breakdown of the answers, it emerges that there is no division in accordance with political camp or demographics, and that it is almost certain that the developments on the matter of the hostages, which is now topping the agenda, have had a great impact on this shift [in opinion].”
So far, more than 7,000 people have been killed in Israeli military operations, while a surprise Hamas attack on October 7 claimed more than 1,400 lives with over 220 taken hostage.
Hamas has released four hostages over the past week amid efforts by regional mediator countries to organise a wider rescue.
Israel’s adversary claims some 50 hostages were killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, which caused large-scale destruction.
