TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As international concern grows over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, more U.S. adults view Israeli military action in the Palestinian territory as excessive compared to the early stages of the conflict, according to a new poll.
About half of Americans said Israel's military response in Gaza had been "excessive," according to a survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, as reported by Arab News and Fox News on Friday. This number has risen from November 2023, when 40 percent said Israel's military action had been excessive.
The AP-NORC poll was conducted shortly after the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the death toll of Palestinians has surpassed 65,000 as of Friday, and experts say that starvation conditions have developed in the city of Gaza. Nearly 90 percent of the population has been displaced as Israel continues its attacks.
However, at the same time, Americans overall, particularly Republicans, are less likely to view ceasefire negotiations as a high priority for the U.S. government compared to several months ago, when the U.S. engaged in ceasefire talks with Hamas.
The change in U.S. attitudes towards Israel's actions comes as Israel has launched widespread ground attacks in the city of Gaza.
Israel is facing increasing international scrutiny over its actions in Gaza, with an independent team of experts assigned by the UN Human Rights Council announcing this week that Israel is committing genocide.
"The level of innocent women and children suffering," said Renee Hollier, from Lafayette, Louisiana, who describes herself as a political independent and mother of a toddler.
"There’s just no justification for this kind of suffering to continue."
The poll found a bipartisan increase in the number of Americans who believe Israel's military response has been "too excessive."
About 7 in 10 Democratic respondents now say this, up from 58 percent in November 2023. And about half of independent respondents say the same, compared to about 4 in 10 in the previous measurement.
Surveys of Republican respondents also saw a slight change, from 18 percent to 24 percent.
Concerns about Israel's actions crossing the line were quite high in January 2024, when 50 percent of U.S. adults said Israel had "gone too far," but the number has slightly decreased as the conflict continues.
And 45 percent of U.S. adults now say that it is "very" important for the U.S. to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, similar to American views at the start of the conflict but slightly up from 41 percent in March.
Miguel Martinez, 55, from Miami, said that it is important for the Republican government to prioritize humanitarian aid despite supporting Israel's military efforts to defeat Hamas.
Martinez supports Israel's goal to defeat Hamas, but he is concerned that the conflict will drag on.
"Not everyone there is the enemy," said Martinez, a Republican who said he generally approved of Trump's handling of the conflict. "Those people need help."
In interviews, Americans from across the political spectrum expressed pessimism about the prospect of the U.S. mediating a lasting ceasefire.
"There’s an all-or-nothing attitude on both sides," Martinez said of Israel and Hamas.
"Any resolution, any ceasefire, it’s hard to see it being anything more than temporary."
Democratic supporters from the Zionist camp are more likely to prioritize negotiations on an independent Palestinian state.
Larry Kapenstein, 71, a Democrat from Middletown, Pennsylvania, said he is worried about the long-term impact of this conflict on the economy and Israel's standing in the world.
"I side with Israel, and I think they’re in the right in this, but I think Netanyahu has just taken this too far," said Kapenstein. "There’s got to be a better way."
About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say that it is "very" or "extremely" important to negotiate the formation of an independent Palestinian state, which has not changed since January 2024.
However, this belief is particularly prevalent among Democrats. Currently, approximately half of them say this is very important, which is an increase from 41 percent in 2024. This compares to 19 percent of independent respondents and 14 percent of Republican respondents.
The survey also found a slight decrease in support for military aid to Israel.
About 2 in 10 U.S. adults say that it is "very" or "extremely" important for the U.S. to provide aid to the Israeli military in its fight against Hamas, down from 36 percent at the start of the conflict. This decrease is particularly dramatic among Democrats, from 30 percent at the start of the conflict to 15 percent now.
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