Only 6 percent of Gazans want Hamas to remain in power, majority credits Trump for ceasefire

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A poll of Gazans found that only 6% believe Hamas should continue to rule the Gaza Strip, while 67.9% gave US President Donald Trump credit for the ceasefire.

The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Institute for Social and Economic Progress (ISEP) on January 22, surveyed 400 people over the age of 15 who had lived in various locations in Gaza before the start of the current war.

About 70% of those polled said they didn’t think Hamas was in control of the situation, though it was unclear whether “the situation” referred to governing Gaza or managing the war.

Half of those polled said they looked forward to Gaza being rebuilt in better condition than it was before. This was before Trump proposed that the US take over and rebuild Gaza.

Two-thirds of Gazans felt that the issue of humanitarian aid not reaching them was serious, and 44% said Hamas was solely responsible for this problem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed a plan proposed by Donald Trump that would resettle Gazan civilians, allowing for the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip.

Trump’s proposal to resettle the entire population of the Gaza Strip in third-party countries, Netanyahu said, is a “bold new vision and the only plan that I think can work.”

Defending Trump’s plan against accusations of ethnic cleansing, Netanyahu argued that most Gazans want to leave the Gaza Strip.

“Why not give Gazans a choice? Everybody said this is the largest open-air prison in the world. Not because of us. We let people leave.”

“In fact, if you want to know, over the last couple of years—two years, I think—150,000 Gazans left. You know how they left? Because they bribed their way out, not through us. They bribed their way out.”