BEIRUT, December 14. /TASS/. The majority of Palestinians support Hamas’ armed resistance to Israel, according to a poll conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) jointly with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

According to the report posted on the center’s website, seventy-two percent of those polled (82% in the West Bank and 57% in the Gaza Strip) approve of the actions by Hamas’ armed wing, including the October 7 attack on Israel and hostage taking.

Twenty-two percent of respondents (12% in the West Bank and 37% in the Gaza Strip) said they disapprove of Hamas’ actions, while six percent put the blame for what was happening on Iran.

As many as 70% of those polled in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip said they are convinced that Israel will fail to reach its declared goal of exterminating Hamas. Twenty-two percent believe that Hamas will sustain losses but will not lose its influence, while only eight percent said that they think Israel will accomplish its goal.

Fifty-two percent of respondents laid the blame for the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza on Israel’s aggression, 26% blame the United States, 11% - Hamas, and nine percent - the Palestinian administration in Ramallah.

The polled Palestinians expressed doubt about the prospects for peace in the Middle East should related talks be resumed. The Washington-brokered Palestinian-Israeli talks stalled in 2017 and have not been resumed since then.

The poll was conducted in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, involving more than 1,200 Palestinians from various social strata.