Only FIVE PERCENT of Arabs think Hamas’ massacre on October 7 was an ‘illegitimate operation’

A disturbing new poll conducted across16 Arab states claims that just FIVE PERCENT believe Hamas’ massacre on October 7, which left more than 1,200 people dead, was an “illegitimate operation.”

The poll, conducted by Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, asked 8,000 men and women from 16 Arab countries about Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

A staggering 67% of respondents said that Hamas’ terror attack was a “legitimate resistance operation” while 19% reported that it was a “somewhat flawed but legitimate resistance operation.”

35% believe that the most important reason for Hamas’ onslaught was the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories” while 24% attributed it mostly to “defence against Israel’s targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque” and 8% saw it as a result of the “ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip.”

The poll also revealed that 69% expressed their solidarity with Palestinians and support for Hamas and 23% expressed solidarity with Palestinians despite opposing Hamas.

As for views on Israel, Arab public opinion is almost unanimous in rejecting recognition of Israel, at a rate of 89%, up from 84% in 2022, compared to only 4% who support its recognition.

92% believe that the Palestinian question “concerns all Arabs and not just the Palestinians.”

77% named the U.S. and Israel as the biggest threat to the security and stability of the region.

In terms of media coverage of the Gaza war, 82% of respondents claimed that U.S. media is biased towards Israel, while only 7% see it as neutral.

A majority also rejected Israel’s comparisons between Hamas and ISIS.

The field work was conducted from 12 December 2023 to 5 January 2024 in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and the West Bank, Palestine (including Jerusalem). The surveyed communities represent 95% of the population of the Arab region and its far-flung regions. The sample in each of the aforementioned communities was 500 men and women, drawn according to cluster and self-weighted sampling methods to ensure that every individual in each country had an equal probability of appearing in the sample.