Polls: Growing support for Hamas as Israeli army kills Palestinian in West Bank raid | DW News

The health Ministry in the Israeli occupied West Bank says a Palestinian man died during an overnight raid on ramala which is the seat of the Palestinian Authority fuel bombs were thrown at Israeli military vehicles a United Nations report warns the human rights situation in the territory is rapidly deteriorating it urges Israel to

End what the report refers to as unlawful killings there opinion polls show Palestinian support for Hamas is growing in the West Bank they o indicate the Palestinian Authority which governs the area is losing support a pro Hamas rally in the occupied West Bank for years few people in the Palestinian territory supported

The group which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the EU and the US three months of War have changed that in September support for Hamas was just 12% in the West Bank and 38% in Gaza but in December that support Rose to 44% in the West Bank and 42% in Gaza

The polling in Gaza was conducted by Palestinian political scientist Khal shikaki mainly in person during the ceasefire earlier this month reaching people by telephone in the besieged territory is almost impossible the poll also shows that Mahmud abas the leader of the Palestinian Authority which officially governs the West Bank is extremely

Unpopular only 11% approve of him meanwhile the war has also brought in increase in tensions and violence between Israeli Security Forces settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank further radicalizing the population there many of whom see gazin as Heroes and say Hamas was right to attack

Israel the US has said it envisions a post-war future where the Palestinian Authority governs Gaza but as Hamas gains popularity the idea of a Gaza run by the PA seems less and less VI viable your tman joins us from the international crisis group it assists policy makers on conflict prevention

Your support for hammas tell us more about these latest polls there is not really anything surprising about the poll results uh because we’ve been seeing since October 7th a spike in popularity for Hamas in the West Bank in Gaza it’s very hard to gauge at the moment because of the

Conditions there at the moment but um what we’ve seen is that um and I think what what we need to understand is that in situations of war between Israel and Palestinians the the group that stands up to Israeli violence uh from their perspective uh is going to uh always

Become more popular than any group that doesn’t so at the moment the Palestinian Authority uh which was anyway losing support for its poor governance um is not getting any public support for its current stands which is to say nothing whereas Hamas is actually fighting Israel and that is hugely popular among

The Palestinian public but if you look at uh situations of non-war and just military occupation which has been going on for 56 years uh then uh Hamas has less popularity because as a governing group um people distrust its IDE or many people distrust its ideology and as a governing group where was Hamas

In the polls before this war started well in it was only a governing group in Gaza of course not in the West Bank where it was an opposition um and in Gaza it was also losing popularity because it couldn’t really actually govern the Gaza Strip under an Israeli

Siege um and uh for any a number of other reasons when you see governments throughout the region not particularly affected at providing services to their people Hamas was facing popular demonstrations against its poor record of governance in Gaza in the past year for example so would you say these figures are a flash

In the pan that this is a a win as far as the polls go for the underdog but um looking back to the October 7 uh terrorist attacks uh how does that throw a light on things for the group no it’s it’s not it’s not for the underdog it’s it’s because Palestinians

Generally reject the Israeli occupation which is extremely brutal and has been going on for 56 years and so they St they support anyone who is willing to put their lives on the line in order to get rid of that occupation and today it’s Hamas tomorrow it could be someone

Else in fact an entire population in Gaza is being radicalized right now um and so it could and in the past it was the PLO now um so that is what the determines things and people unfortunately don’t look at the methods used in fighting an illegal occupation

By Israel just like Israel doesn’t look at the means that it is using in the assault on Gaza they’re only looking at the end result and in the notion of a just War just as it is uh a just a right to fight against the military occupation

But the means used like on October 7th targeting civilians is unconscionable but that doesn’t really enter into the population of many people Y where does all of this then leave the Palestinians at the end of the day well with much greater destruction uh certainly of the Gaza Strip um and a

Deep deep fear that they will be expelled both from the Gaza Strip and from the occupied West Bank into Jordan that is where they are today and at the moment with the current government in Israel seeing no no being unprepared to move toward a political solution to the

Israeli pales inian conflict it is very hard to see a way out other than through continued violence and occupation in both the West Bank and the Gaza STP your man from the international crisis group thank you very much for being on DW news cheers for more we’re joined Now by

Journalist ham baloa ham reported from the Gaza Strip for more than a decade he’s now in Jordan’s capital Aman ham tell us more about the growing support for H in the West Bank what are the main factors behind that it’s not easy to judge um uh currently um because despite all the

Blls of course it’s obvious that the popularity of Hamas in in the West Bank is increasing and the popularity of PA is decreasing uh but it’s important to mention that the last election was held in the Palestinian territories was 2006 and Hamas won that election or the

Majority of the seats of the Parliament um one of the main uh reason that is Hamas is gaining um uh popularity is the vision um which is we are talking about two two visions about Palestine two Rivals fat is believing in peace process as the way to establish the Palestinian

State while Hamas believing in armed struggle as the way um while there is a de block of the peace process so the other side is G talk to us about the Palestinian Authority uh it has suffered a dramatic loss of trust among Palestinians in the West Bank any ideas why that

Is well this is not recent um as I just mentioned that the PA lost or fat lost the election in 2006 because of many reasons um um the main reason is the political one second is the economy um is not able to pay the salaries because of Israeli deductions of the the

Palestinian money or the taxes that delivered to the Palestinian Authority um Israeli um daily encourages last night there were uh several Israeli incence across the West Bank rala included um Janine hion Bim toim other cities um um daily arrests um the Palestinian people in in the West Bank

Don’t see that the ba or fat is doing enough to protect them or to feed them so what do all do this leave Gaza and its and its people the Israeli military won’t let Hamas retain power there but gazin would not welcome the Palestinian Authority there either that’s the question it’s not easy

To say and to talk about Gaza right now if you ask people on the ground from Gaza currently they would say we would we would see um anybody but we need the war to be over this is the main need they want um in Gaza they don’t see the

PA or fat uh um as a Survivor because or res rescuer because um they suffered from them I mean um Hamas won the election before Hamas were uh was there for 17 years Hamas is deep and and close to them and they have it’s an ideological movement they work hardly

Close to the people while fat and the PA abandoned Gaza many people um or public servants despite that the ba kept uh paying their salaries the the ones who used to work before Hamas took over in 2007 but uh uh uh many of them they were fired or uh their salaries were deducted

Uh over the years so um they didn’t see that that fat is doing enough for them and um as a rival so I would summary it up that the the the gain of power of Hamas one of the main factors that the absence of the Rival and fat didn’t fill that

Gap ham thank you very much that was Palestinian journalist ham baloa thank you

At least one Palestinian has been killed in the occupied West Bank in an Israeli army raid. That’s according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In the city of Ramallah, Molotov cocktails and other projectiles were thrown at Israeli military vehicles. The clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians also damaged buildings and some shops.

This comes as opinion polls show Palestinian support for Hamas, which is concidered a terrorist group by multiple countries, is growing in the West Bank. The same polls indicate that the Palestinian Authority – which governs the territory – is losing support.

For more on this, we talk to Joost Hiltermann. He is the Director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the International Crisis Group. The group assists policymakers on conflict prevention. He is joining us from Brussels.

And we talk to journalist Hazem Balousha. Hazem reported from the Gaza Strip for more than a decade. He is now in Jordan’s capital Amman.

#Israel #WestBank #Hamas

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32 comments

  1. Does Ukraine shell cities and civilian infrastructure like hospitals and schools in Russia? No. Because they’re not war criminals. Even though Russia is destroying entire Ukrainian cities.

  11. If the money from these weapons were allocated to educating the poor children of America or even supporting the economy of Palestine, it would be better than perpetuating the ideology of war and excluding others because they adhere to their traditions.

  15. This poll is absolutely nonsense… there is, since many years, overwhelmingly support for Hamas in the west bank…that's the reason the PA do not make an election again.

  16. Its not about Hamas, i think globally support for Palestinians resistance against occupation and oppressions has grown much more than Israel ever thought. Which is why Israel can never achieve its goals

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