Most Americans believe there is a famine in Gaza, but hold the Hamas terror group responsible, according to an August Harvard/Harris poll conducted as reports of the crisis led news in the US.
The survey found that 69% of respondents believed accusations that there is a famine in Gaza. More Democrats — 78% — believed the accusations than the 65% of Republicans and Independents.
A majority of 61% held Hamas responsible for the famine. Democrats were split over which side was responsible, while 74% of Republicans and 60% of Independents blamed the terror group.
A slight majority of younger respondents blamed Israel, but most respondents over the age of 25 held Hamas responsible.
Respondents were split over whether criticism of Israel in the war is motivated more by antisemitism or more by concern for Palestinians.
There was also an even divide over whether Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. Younger voters and Democrats were more likely to believe that Israel is guilty of genocide, with 77% of Democrats believing Israel was carrying out genocide.
Sixty percent of respondents supported providing both offensive and defensive military aid to Israel.
A majority, 60%, of young Americans aged 18-24 supported Hamas over Israel in the conflict. Some previous editions of the monthly survey also found that a majority of the age group favored Hamas. All other demographic groups favored Israel. Support for Israel decreased three points since July.
Overall, 26% of Americans favored Hamas over Israel.
Most respondents — 58% — said Israel should only make a deal to release the Israeli hostages if Hamas leaves Gaza.
The poll, released on Monday, queried 2,025 registered US voters on August 20-21 and had a margin of error of 2.2 points.
The monthly poll was carried out by Harvard University’s Center for American Political Studies and The Harris Poll, a US survey company.
A separate survey released on Wednesday found that 37% of Americans sympathized more with the Palestinians, while 36% favored the Israelis. The finding marked an all-time high for the Palestinians and a record low for Israelis since the poll began asking the question in 2001.
The Quinnipiac University poll said that 60% of respondents were against the United States sending more military aid to Israel for the war against Hamas, while 32% were in favor. The Quinnipiac survey asked about aid specifically for fighting Hamas, while the Harvard/Harris poll asked about general military aid for Israel, without mentioning Gaza or Hamas.
The Quinnipiac survey also found that half of respondents believed Israel was committing genocide, while 35% did not, and the rest did not answer or did not know.
For Democrats, 77% believed Israel was guilty of genocide, compared to 20% of Republicans.
The poll surveyed 1,220 registered voters between August 21-25 and had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
