{"id":237640,"date":"2025-09-19T00:33:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/237640\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T00:33:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:33:20","slug":"more-say-israel-has-gone-too-far-in-gaza-conflict-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/237640\/","title":{"rendered":"More say Israel has gone too far in Gaza conflict: poll"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 At a moment of growing international alarm about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, more U.S. adults view Israel\u2019s military action in the Palestinian territory<\/a> as excessive than at the beginning of the war, according to a new poll.<\/p>\n

About half of Americans say the military response from Israel in the Gaza Strip has \u201cgone too far,\u201d according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a>. That\u2019s up from November 2023, when 40% said Israel\u2019s military action had gone too far. That AP-NORC poll<\/a> was conducted shortly after Hamas started the conflict by launching an Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel<\/a> in which militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, Americans overall, particularly Republicans, are less likely to say that negotiating a ceasefire should be a high priority for the U.S. government than they were just a few months ago when the U.S. was holding ceasefire talks with Hamas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The shift in American attitudes about Israel\u2019s actions comes as Israel begins an expanded ground offensive on Gaza City<\/a>. Israel is facing increased international scrutiny over its conduct in Gaza, with a team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations\u2019 Human Rights Council this week announcing it has concluded that Israel is committing genocide<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Israel has already destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts announcing a famine in Gaza City. The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 65,000<\/a>, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of innocent women and children suffering,\u201d said Renee Hollier, of Lafayette, Louisiana, who described herself as a political independent and mother of a toddler. \u201cThere\u2019s just no justification for this kind of suffering to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Displaced<\/p>\n

Displaced Palestinians flee Gaza City carrying their belongings along the coastal road toward southern Gaza, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo\/Abdel Kareem Hana)<\/p>\n

Displaced Palestinians flee Gaza City carrying their belongings along the coastal road toward southern Gaza, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo\/Abdel Kareem Hana)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Bipartisan uptick in views that Israel has \u2018gone too far\u2019<\/p>\n

The poll found a bipartisan uptick in Americans finding Israel\u2019s military response has \u201cgone too far.\u201d <\/p>\n

About 7 in 10 Democrats say this now, up from 58% in November 2023. And roughly half of independents say the same, compared with about 4 in 10 in the earlier measure. Republicans have also moved slightly, from 18% to 24%.<\/p>\n

Concern about overreach from Israel was high in January 2024, when 50% of U.S. adults said Israel had \u201cgone too far,\u201d but that fell slightly as the war continued.<\/p>\n

And 45% of U.S. adults now say it\u2019s \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d important for the U.S. to provide humanitarian relief to Palestinians in Gaza, similar to Americans\u2019 views at the start of the war but up slightly from 41% in March.<\/p>\n

Miguel Martinez, 55, of Miami, said it remains critical for President Donald Trump\u2019s Republican administration to prioritize humanitarian relief even as it backs the Israeli military\u2019s effort to defeat Hamas. Martinez supports Israel\u2019s aim to defeat Hamas, but he\u2019s concerned that the conflict is dragging on.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot everyone there is the enemy,\u201d said Martinez, a Republican who said he broadly approves of Trump\u2019s handling of the conflict<\/a>. \u201cThose people need help.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli President Isaac Herzog meet at the Beit Hanassi presidential residence, during Rubio\u2019s visit, in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Nathan Howard\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli President Isaac Herzog meet at the Beit Hanassi presidential residence, during Rubio\u2019s visit, in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Nathan Howard\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Fewer say negotiating a ceasefire should be a high US priority<\/p>\n

Despite the growing view that Israel has overstepped, Americans are less likely to consider it a high priority to negotiate a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas than they were when the Trump administration was heavily involved in negotiations<\/a>. That downward shift is primarily driven by Republicans. <\/p>\n

About half of U.S. adults say it\u2019s \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d important, down from 59% in March<\/a> but in line with views from last year. Republicans have grown less likely to say it\u2019s \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d important for the U.S. to negotiate a permanent ceasefire since earlier in the year, while Democrats haven\u2019t shifted.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Israeli<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening event of the bipartisan delegation of American legislators to Israel in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Debbie Hill\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening event of the bipartisan delegation of American legislators to Israel in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Debbie Hill\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> has said the conflict will continue until Hamas is eliminated<\/a> and the remaining hostages are released from captivity. Hamas has said its assault was in response to the more than decadelong blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities, increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinians and the growth of settlements.<\/p>\n

In interviews, Americans across the political spectrum were dour about the prospects of the Trump administration mediating a lasting ceasefire. During the campaign, Trump pledged to quickly end the Israel-Hamas war as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine<\/a>. He\u2019s struggled with both.<\/p>\n

Approval of Trump\u2019s handling of the conflict is down slightly among U.S. adults to 37%, compared with 44% in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an all-or-nothing attitude on both sides,\u201d Martinez said of Israel and Hamas. \u201cAny resolution, any ceasefire, it\u2019s hard to see it being anything more than temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu last week approved an audacious strike targeting Hamas officials<\/a> in the Gulf emirate of Qatar, an operation that killed six people but that Hamas claims failed to kill any of the group\u2019s leaders. The attack also threatened to upend months of ceasefire diplomacy mediated by Qatar, which has served as an intermediary with Hamas.<\/p>\n

Democrats are more likely to prioritize negotiations on an independent Palestinian state<\/p>\n

Larry Kapenstein, 71, a Democrat from Middletown, Pennsylvania, said he\u2019s worried about the conflict\u2019s long-term ramifications for Israel\u2019s economy and standing in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI side with Israel, and I think they\u2019re in the right in this, but I think Netanyahu has just taken this too far,\u201d Kapenstein said. \u201cThere\u2019s got to be a better way.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 3 in 10 U.S. adults said it is \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d important to negotiate the establishment of an independent Palestinian state<\/a>, unchanged from January 2024. But that belief is especially pronounced among Democrats: About half now say this is highly important, up from 41% in 2024. That compares with 19% of independents and 14% of Republicans. <\/p>\n

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly<\/a> last week to support a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and urge Israel to commit to a Palestinian state, a move that Netanyahu vehemently opposed and that the U.S. was one of the 10 countries to vote against.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to media at Ben Gurion International Airport, as he departs Tel Aviv for Qatar following an official visit, near Lod, Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (Nathan Howard\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to media at Ben Gurion International Airport, as he departs Tel Aviv for Qatar following an official visit, near Lod, Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (Nathan Howard\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Support for military aid for Israel falls<\/p>\n

The survey also found slightly less support for military aid for Israel.<\/p>\n

About 2 in 10 U.S. adults said it is \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d important for the U.S. to provide aid to Israel\u2019s military to fight Hamas, down from 36% at the war\u2019s start. The decline has been particularly dramatic among Democrats, from 30% at the beginning of the war to 15% now.<\/p>\n

Lehks Wright, 50, of Albany, Georgia, who is an independent, said it\u2019s difficult to justify spending billions of dollars backing Israel\u2019s military when the Trump administration is calling for sweeping cuts in federal spending on health care<\/a> and other social programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to say we\u2019re in a deficit and there\u2019s government bloat, and I am not doubting that, then cut spending on other countries, too,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The AP-NORC poll of 1,183 adults was conducted Sept. 11-15, using a sample drawn from NORC\u2019s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 At a moment of growing international alarm about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, more U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":237641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[97,1578,372,69,4526,57,4527,3464,99,3462,373,127405,3463,127406,50,9598,80,55347,127404,89,61,322,67,370,96,93,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-237640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","9":"tag-associated-press","10":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-gaza-strip","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-hamas","15":"tag-international-agreements","16":"tag-israel","17":"tag-israel-government","18":"tag-israel-hamas-war","19":"tag-larry-kapenstein","20":"tag-mideast-wars","21":"tag-miguel-martinez","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-palestinian-territories-government","24":"tag-politics","25":"tag-public-opinion","26":"tag-renee-hollier","27":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","28":"tag-u-s-news","29":"tag-u-s-republican-party","30":"tag-united-states","31":"tag-united-states-government","32":"tag-war-and-unrest","33":"tag-washington-news","34":"tag-world","35":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}