New poll indicates Palestinian public opinion on unity and the war on Gaza

A poll conducted after Israel’s latest military operation in Gaza has shown that nearly half of the respondents expected Palestinian reconciliation to fail, despite 87.6% assessing the degree of unity among Palestinian factions to be “good” during the offensive.

It also found that out of the 82.5% of respondents that said they would participate in a presidential election, marginally more would vote for a Hamas candidate rather than a Fatah candidate.

The poll, conducted by the Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies at An-Najah National University in the West Bank, aimed to gauge Palestinian public opinion on the new political realities in Palestine and the results of the last war on the Gaza Strip, among other things.

Regarding the Cairo Agreement, the ceasefire agreement which ended the recent operation and includes an easing of the blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel, only 57.6% of the respondents believe that the border crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel will open. A mere 31.4% believe a sea port will be established while just over 30% believe Gaza airport will be reconstructed and begin operating.

Many doubt the durability of the ceasefire; 72.8% of the respondents believe there will be new military encounters with Israel in the Gaza Strip in the near future and nearly 60% said that they neither feel safe for themselves nor for their families and properties under the current circumstances.

In regards to the future of the peace process between Israel and Palestine, the poll found that just under two thirds of the respondents were pessimistic towards its possible success and only 7.6% considered the United States as an honest broker of peace process negotiations.

Meanwhile, 56.4% of the respondents supported the two-state solution provided that there will be a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel and 26.3% supported the one-state solution in which both Palestinians and Israelis enjoy equal rights.

A total of 84.6% of the people who took part in the poll supported the decision of the Palestinian Authority to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The poll took a sample of 1360 Palestinians, including 860 people from the West Bank and 500 people from the Gaza Strip.