OnIslam & News Agencies
Wednesday, 03 September 2014 00:00
The overwhelming majority of the public views Hamas as the winner and Israel as the loser in this war.
GAZA – The 48-day Israeli war on Gaza strip that ended in a ceasefire agreement has resulted in a huge surge in Hamas’ popularity over that of Fatah group, an opinion poll has found.
“It is worth noting that the size of the change in favor of Hamas is unprecedented since 2006. Indeed, if presidential elections were to take place today, Ismail Haniyeh would easily win over Abbas and Hamas would win the largest percentage of the popular vote in parliamentary elections,” read a statement announcing the results of the poll published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research on Tuesday, September 2.
The overwhelming majority of the public views Hamas as the winner and Israel as the loser in this war.
“79% believe that Hamas has won the Gaza War; 3% believe Israel came out the winner; and 17% believe the two sides were losers,” the poll said.
Based on the views of over 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the poll show an unprecedented popular shift towards Hamas as tensions with Fatah boil.
Most Palestinians surveyed said they preferred Hamas's strategy of armed struggle against Israel rather than peace negotiations, which are favored by Fatah, once the dominant Palestinian political movement and one backed by the West.
A similar majority views Hamas’ approach of armed confrontation with Israel as the most effective means of ending Israeli occupation,” the poll said.
“Indeed, an overwhelming majority of West Bankers wants to transfer “Hamas’ way” to the West Bank and rejects the demand to disarm the Islamist group or to disband the other Gazan armed groups,” it added.
Israel has been launching relentless airstrikes against Gaza since July 8 where more than 2,100 have been killed and thousands injured.
An agreement was announced last Tuesday, August 26, declaring a “permanent” ceasefire with Israel in a deal brokered by Egypt.
According to UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), about 80% of deaths in Gaza are civilians, including dozens of children and women.
The large scale of mass destruction in Gaza has left about 5,510 homes completely destroyed and about 31,000 partially damaged, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes that were caught up in the Israeli air strikes.
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