Majority of Germans now disapprove of Israel military offensive in Gaza, poll finds

A recent poll by the Forsa Research Institute, conducted last week, has shown a significant shift in German public opinion regarding Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

Commissioned by the German weekly magazine, Stern, the poll found that 61 per cent of Germans disapprove of Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, with only one-third still in support.

This marks a dramatic change from a November poll after the 7 October attacks, when 62 per cent of Germans supported Israel’s military response, and only 31 per cent were opposed.

The change in opinion spans all German political parties, including the Social Democrats, coalition partners, the Greens, and the largest opposition party, the centre-right Union, as well as some members of the far-right Alternative for Germany, who are now opposing Israeli military action.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since the 7 October, 2023, Hamas incursion despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.

More than 36,650 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 83,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

READ: Israel steps up bombing of Rafah as tanks push west