The polling numbers say it all. According to a survey conducted of 1,580 Palestinians living in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria, 93% believe that “Hamas did not commit atrocities during its mass invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.”
The Jewish News Syndicate reports this survey was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research between March 5 and 10. The Palestinians surveyed were interviewed in-person and the margin of error was 3%.
Of those polled, 72% still support the Hamas terrorist attack of Israel on October 7th. These results show that support for Hamas among Palestinians remains just as high as it was three months ago. In fact, support for Hamas by Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip rose by 14 points. What’s also interesting about the polling results is that “among Palestinians who watched videos of the atrocities filmed by the perpetrators themselves, 81% still did not believe atrocities were committed” by Hamas terrorists against innocent Israeli men, women, and children.
Now, please remember that on October 7th, 1,200 Israelis were murdered, thousands were injured, and 253 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. On that horrible day in Israel’s history, terrorists “committed acts of mass rape, necrophilia, beheadings, torture, mutilation, desecration of corpses and other atrocities.”
And after all the Palestinians in Gaza have endured because of Hamas; being used as human shields, having humanitarian aid stolen from them by Hamas terrorists, and being threatened with personal harm or even death if they did not obey the oppressive dictates of Hamas leaders who are living in the lap of luxury in Qatar, the survey found that 71% believe Hamas made the “correct” choice in attacking Israel on October 7th, which is an increase of 14% since the survey was last taken in December of 2023. By the way, the Gazans’ support for Hamas to continue to “rule the Gaza Strip has increased by 14 points to more than 50% since December, with nearly 60% believing the terrorist group will remain in control of the territory.”
Even the Ramallah-based survey group was surprised by their findings, stating, “Given the magnitude of the suffering in the Gaza Strip, this seems to be the most counterintuitive finding of the entire poll. . . Nonetheless, it is consistent with the increase in the percentage of Gazans who think Hamas will win the war.”
Question: With this kind of support for Hamas by Palestinians living inside of Gaza, why would anyone think a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will work?
Don’t get me wrong. I want peace as much as the next person and it breaks my heart to see the suffering in Gaza because Hamas leaders have doubled-down and are unwilling to admit defeat, lay down their weapons, and return the hostages. But even if Hamas leaders did admit defeat, released the remaining hostages, and lived in exile, these polling results make it clear that Hamas ideology will live on in the hearts of those Palestinians who remain in Gaza the day after Hamas is defeated. And we must never forget that the likes of Iran will gladly fund any efforts to terrorize and ultimately defeat Israel so that from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.
Don’t get me wrong. I want peace as much as the next person and it breaks my heart to see the suffering in Gaza because Hamas leaders have doubled-down and are unwilling to admit defeat, lay down their weapons, and return the hostages. But even if Hamas leaders did admit defeat, released the remaining hostages, and lived in exile, these polling results make it clear that Hamas ideology will live on in the hearts of those Palestinians who remain in Gaza the day after Hamas is defeated. And we must never forget that the likes of Iran will gladly fund any efforts to terrorize and ultimately defeat Israel so that from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.
Will you please join me in praying for Israel and her people at this critical time?
by Dr. Matthew Dodd | March 22, 2024