68% of US Public Wants Gaza Cease-Fire: Poll

Nearly 70% of Americans think that Israel should call a cease-fire in its attack on Gaza, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday has found.

Around 68% of respondents answered that they agreed with the statement that "Israel should call a cease-fire and try to negotiate," Reuters reported. When broken down by party, around half of Republicans and three-quarters of Democrats backed this view, meaning President Joe Biden is acting against the will of the majority of his party as he refuses to urge Israel to stop its assault.

"The majority of Americans oppose this massacre of Palestinians in Gaza, so why is Biden still supporting it?" Justice Democrats asked on social media.

"4.5% of Congress currently support a cease-fire. No Republican members have come out in favor of stopping the violence."

The new poll, which was conducted online Monday and Tuesday, surveyed 1,006 adults from across the country. It also found that support for Israel had dropped by nearly 10 percentage points since the last Reuters/Ipsos poll on October 12 and 13. When asked what role the U.S. should play in the conflict, around 32% said "the U.S. should support Israel," down from 41% in mid-October. The number agreeing that "the U.S. should be a neutral mediator" rose from 27% to 39%.

The first poll came about a week after Hamas' October 7 attack that killed around 1,200 people in Israel. The militant group also took around 240 hostages into Gaza. The second poll comes during the sixth week of Israel's bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, which has taken an increasing toll on the strip's civilian population and infrastructure. The attack has killed more than 11,000 people, approximately 40% of them children, and destroyed or damaged schools, bakeries, and medical facilities. Because of fuel shortages and damage to the mobile network, Gaza's Health Ministry has been unable to contact the strip's struggling hospitals to receive an updated death toll, The Washington Post reported. The last official tally came Friday, but the ministry said thousands more had likely died since then.

In the poll, more people said that they opposed than supported sending Israel weapons, at 43% and 31% respectively. In comparison, 41% supported sending weapons to Ukraine, while 32% opposed it.

Intercept reporter Prem Thakker noted that the poll results show a growing disconnect between American voters and their representatives when it comes to U.S.-Israel policy.

"4.5% of Congress currently support a cease-fire," Thakker tweeted. "No Republican members have come out in favor of stopping the violence."

The poll is just the latest indicator that U.S. voters want Israel's bombardment of Gaza to stop. An October 20 Data for Progress survey found that 66% of respondents supported a cease-fire. A recent Marist poll found that the percentage of respondents thinking Israel had gone "too far" in its response to the October 7 attacks had increased from 26% in the aftermath of the attacks to 38%, The Hill reported Wednesday.

Americans have also come out for a series of protests and direct actions calling for a cease-fire, including a march in Washington, D.C., on November 4 that one reporter said was likely the largest pro-Palestine march in U.S. history.