Nearly half, 46%, of adults aged 18-24 say Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis can be justified, a poll released Monday shows. Three-quarters of all respondents said the attack was not justified.
The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll asked voters of various age groups about their stances on the conflict in Gaza, and the findings show that the younger age groups overwhelmingly sympathize with Hamas compared to the older age groups.
Forty-three percent of young adults support Hamas in the conflict with Israel, compared to just 20% across all age groups. Ninety-three percent of voters aged 65 and older support Israel by comparison.
The majority of voters aged 18-24, 57%, and half of voters aged 25-34 believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, while 66% of voters among all age groups say Israel is just defending itself.
The poll also revealed that 37% of voters ages 18-34 signaled that they want Hamas to continue to run Gaza after the war is over, compared to just 21% among all age groups and only 5% among the oldest voters.
Most voters 18-24, 63%, and 25-34, 54%, support a full ceasefire that would “leave everyone in place,” while 67% of all respondents believe in waiting for the “release of all hostages and Hamas being removed from power” before a ceasefire could happen.
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The only group of respondents who believe Hamas “can be negotiated with to create peace” are voters aged 18-24 at 60%. Sixty-seven percent of all respondents believe that Hamas is “dedicated only to the destruction of Israel” and, therefore, can not be trusted to negotiate in good faith.
The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll surveyed 2,346 registered voters from Jan. 17-18. It is a collaboration between Harvard’s Center for American Political Studies and the Harris Poll.