New Poll Finds U.S. Support for a Ceasefire In Gaza Swings Wildly Based On Whether or Not Hamas Stays in Power
(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
A new poll Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found that Americans’ views of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict swung wildly when the wording of the question changed.
When directly asked, “Do you favor or oppose a permanent ceasefire in Gaza?” the poll’s 1,961 adult respondents overwhelming agreed they do – 70 percent were in favor, while 30 percent were opposed.
However, the result flipped when the poll next asked, “Would you favor or oppose that ceasefire if it meant that Hamas was allowed to continue to hold hostages and Hamas were to continue to run Gaza?” 68 percent of the same respondents said they opposed such a ceasefire, while 32 percent were in favor.
Additionally, the poll asked, “Do you favor an unconditional ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that would leave everyone in place, or do you think any ceasefire should happen only after the release of all hostages and Hamas removed from power?”
61 percent of respondents answered that a “Ceasefire should happen only after the release of all hostages and Hamas being removed from power,” while 39 percent answered they “Favor unconditional ceasefire that would leave everyone in place.”
The poll also found a strong majority of Americans are in favor of Israel pushing south and advancing its military campaign against Hamas into Rafah.
“Should Israel move forward with an operation in Rafah to finish the war with Hamas, doing its best to avoid civilian casualties even though there will be casualties, or should it back off now and allow Hamas to continue running Gaza?” the poll asked.
72 percent of respondents chose “Move forward with an operation in Rafah,” while 28 percent picked, “Back off now and allow Hamas to continue running Gaza.” The poll was conducted between April 24-25 among 1,961 registered voters and has a margin of error of two points.
Read the full poll results here.
