53% of Israeli public opposes aid entering Gaza, new poll shows

A majority of the Israeli public is opposed to allowing humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, a survey carried out by Israel’s Channel 13 has found.

Some 53 per cent of respondents said they believe Israel should not permit aid to enter Gaza, while only 34 per cent supported allowing lifesaving food, medicines and water to enter the enclave.

The survey sample, which included Palestinian citizens of Israel, suggests that opposition to humanitarian aid among Jewish Israelis may be even higher.

Reacting to the findings, Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian-Israeli parliamentarian, expressed alarm. “I don’t want to imagine the outcome without the Arab citizens. I don’t want to explain the survey results to my children,” he wrote on X.

The results of the recent poll shows that support for blocking aid has reduced significantly since January 2024 when 72 per cent of respondents said they opposed its entry into Gaza.

Despite growing international calls for a ceasefire and the intensifying humanitarian crisis in Gaza, public discourse in Israel remains largely hostile to steps that would end Israel’s genocide.

However, the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza have recently expressed serious concern over the fate of their loved ones as the Israeli occupation army escalated its attacks on the Palestinian enclave. They have on numerous occasions called for an end to Israel’s military assault, the release of captives and for the government to take actions to protect Israelis held in the Strip rather than to protect its political survival.

Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed more than 53,600 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children. A number of Israeli captives have also been killed in the bombing campaign. The territory remains under near-total siege, with critical shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel.

The UN has warned that if vital aid isn’t allowed in, 14,000 babies are at risk of death.