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42% of US voters feel Israel's war on Gaza 'gone too far'

42% of US voters feel Israel's war on Gaza 'gone too far', poll reveals
MENA
2 min read
04 March, 2024
The survey also showed 60 percent disapprove of how US President Joe Biden has dealt with the Gaza war, up eight points on December.
Israel's brutal war on Gaza has so far killed more than 30,500 people [AFP/Getty]

More than four in 10 US voters believe Israel's war on Gaza has "gone too far", a poll has revealed.

The Wall Street Journal survey, carried out between 21 and 28 February, also demonstrated widespread discontent with how President Joe Biden has dealt with the situation.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 30,500 people and left three-quarters of the population internally displaced. Israeli forces have attacked hospitals, ambulances and people looking for humanitarian aid.

The International Court of Justice in January found it "plausible" that Israel was breaching the Genocide Convention in the strip. 

Participants in the poll were asked: "Do you think Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip in response to the October 7th attack by Hamas have gone too far, not gone far enough, or been about right?"

Forty-two percent said they felt Israel's actions had gone too far, though an alarming 24 percent said they had been about right and 19 percent believed they hadn't gone far enough.

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The survey also showed 60 percent disapprove of how Biden has dealt with the Gaza war, up eight points on December. Less than a third approved.

One in three said the US wasn't doing enough to help the Palestinian people, an increase of seven points on December.

Twenty-four percent said the country was doing too much and 25 percent said it was doing about the right amount.

Thirty percent said the US was doing too much to help the Israeli people, also up eight points on December.

A quarter felt Washington was doing too little and 32 percent said it was doing about the right amount.

"The longer this goes on, there is a shift toward more sympathy toward the Palestinians and less toward Israel," Michael Bocian, a Democrat who carried out the survey alongside a Republican, said.

Biden represents the Democratic Party and will be running for re-election this year, likely against former Republican president Donald Trump.

The generational divide on Israel appears to be reducing, as the Wall Street Journal poll found more than seven in 10 Democrats 40 years old and up believed Israel's actions had gone too far in Gaza, basically the same figure as for those below 40.

Seventy percent of Democrats overall agreed, a number that plummeted to around 16 percent for Republicans, demonstrating a clear gulf along party lines.