Majority of Americans say Israel’s response to Hamas attack is justified, CNN poll finds

Nearly all Americans surveyed in a new CNN pollfeel some level of sympathy for the Israeli people after the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas, and a majority say Israel’s military response is justified.

Ahead of Israel's expected ground invasion of Gaza, most respondents said the Israeli government’s military response to the Hamas attacks is fully justified (50%) or partially justified (20%). A total of 21% said they weren’t sure, while 8% said it is not justified at all.

Of those who responded to the poll, which was conducted Oct. 12-13 by text message, 71% said they feel a lot of sympathy for the Israeli people in their current situation, and 25% said they feel some sympathy.

The majority of people who responded also said they feel a lot or some sympathy for the Palestinian people, but the depth of sympathy was less than it was for the Israelis. A total of 41% said they felt a lot of sympathy, with an additional 46% saying they feel some sympathy for Palestinians.

The CNN poll surveyed 1,003 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.

The poll comes just over a week after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led surprise attack near Israel’s southern border, during which Hamas militants killed more than 1,300 Israelis and other nationals, and abducted dozens more, while firing rockets at cities including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Israel has since commenced a siege of Gaza, firing its own barrage of retaliatory missiles and killing more than 2,000 Palestinians, while restricting access to food and electricity in the region that’s long been blockaded by Israel and Egypt.

Israel is widely expected to launch a ground offensive imminently, and has advised Palestinian civilians to move south ahead of the incursion. Hamas, however, has urged Palestinians to stay in their homes, and Palestinians hoping to flea have largely been unable to.

As of Sunday morning, the U.S. had not been able to get any American citizens living in Gaza through the border crossing with Egypt, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he was “not aware of anyone else being able to get out at this time.”