On Oct. 7, as the Hamas-led attack on Israel was unfolding, many Palestinians took to the streets of the Gaza Strip to celebrate what they likened to a prison break and saw as the sudden humiliation of an occupier.
But it was just a temporary boost for Hamas, whose support among Palestinians in Gaza has been low for some time. And as the Israeli onslaught has brought widespread devastation and tens of thousands of deaths, the group and its leaders have remained broadly unpopular in the enclave.
A number of Gaza residents said they held Hamas responsible for starting the war and helping to bring death and destruction upon them, even as they blame Israel first and foremost.
Gauging public opinion in Gaza was difficult even before the war began. For one, Hamas, which long controlled the territory, perpetuated a culture of fear with its oppressive system of governance and exacted retribution against those who criticized it.
Now, polling has become even more difficult, with most of the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza displaced multiple times by the war.
Still, some recent surveys reflect the weak or mixed support in Gaza for Hamas and its leaders. In some cases, contradictory results underline the complications in surveying a transient population during the fog of war.
In March, a survey by the West Bank-based Institute for Social and Economic Progress asked Gaza residents how they felt about Hamas leaders. About three-quarters opposed Yahya Sinwar, the group’s Gaza-based leader, and a similar share opposed Ismail Haniyeh, the movement’s political leader in exile.
Other polls painted a more mixed picture. A poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Gaza and published this past week showed that support in Gaza for Hamas leaders is slightly higher, and that the share who are satisfied with Hamas leadership in the territory has risen since December.
But it also showed that support for Hamas continuing to govern the territory had declined slightly in the past three months.
Basem Naim, a Hamas spokesperson, said that public support for Hamas in Gaza was no less than 50%. That includes Hamas members in Gaza — which he said numbered more than 100,000 — and their families.
“Are there people in Gaza who blame Hamas? Of course,” he told The New York Times. “We aren’t saying that 100% of Gaza residents are Hamas supporters or are happy with what happened,” he added.
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