West Bank support for Hamas surges, anti-American sentiment rises: AP

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Associated Press
13 Dec 2023 22:05

The findings of a poll reveal that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians want PA President Mahmoud Abbas to resign, as the majority support the Resistance.

Palestinians wave Hamas and al-Qassam Brigades flags as they celebrate the liberation of Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons in Nablus, the occupied West Bank, Palestine, November 24, 2023. (AP)

Support for Hamas is on the rise among Palestinians, as the majority of citizens reject the legitimacy of the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, with nearly 90% saying he must resign, a poll published on Wednesday, by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR), found.

The study was conducted between November 22 and December 2, showing overwhelming support for Hamas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, amid a gruesome and brutal Israeli aggression on both Palestinian territories.

1,231 people were included in the study, which also included 481 in-person interviews with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, during the period of the "humanitarian" truce. PSR's study has a margin error of 4%.

According to the poll, In the occupied West Bank, 82% of respondents pronounced their support for the Palestinian Resistance's decision to launch an offensive on Israeli targets on October 7.

The Associated Press reviewed the study's results and said that a large majority of poll takers believed that the Palestinian Resistance movement, Hamas, had truly launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood to ensure the release of Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons and defend al-Aqsa Mosque from Israeli desecration.

Moreover, 88% of Palestinians agree that Mahmoud Abbas should resign, a 10% increase from a poll conducted three months ago. In the West Bank, where the PA's headquarters are located, 92% of citizens called for the PA President's resignation.

"The level of anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism is huge among Palestinians because of the positions they have taken regarding international humanitarian law and what is happening in Gaza,” the director of PSR, Khalil Shikaki told AP.