Six percent of Gazans want Hamas to continue ruling the Gaza Strip after the Israel-Hamas War ends, and 5.3% say they would vote for Hamas again in a future election, according to a new poll published by the Palestinian Institute for Social and Economic Progress (ISEP).
In the poll, which was conducted on January 22, a majority of the respondents (67.9%) credited US President Donald Trump for the success of the hostage-ceasefire deal.
Seventy percent of the respondents said Hamas does not have the power to “control the situation” from now on, although whether “the situation” pertains to the war or Gaza itself was unclear.
When comparing voting opinions before and after the ceasefire began, support for Fatah increased by 12 percentage points, while the proportion who said they would vote for Hamas increased to 5.3%.
More than half of the respondents said they preferred that Gaza be rebuilt better than it was before.
The survey was conducted just after Trump’s inauguration but before he announced his plan to rebuild Gaza.
A significant proportion of respondents (44.1%) blamed Hamas entirely for “aid diversion,” which two-thirds said was a significant issue in Gaza.
The respondents were also asked about their expectations for an “end to the occupation” before and after the ceasefire deal.
What is the Palestinian Institute for Social and Economic Progress?
According to its website, the ISEP is an independent institute that conducts research to help transform the lives of Palestinians. The organization’s aims are for citizens to become more engaged, to “improve governance, and build civic peace.”
The advisory board of the ISEP consists of one individual, Dr. John Garnett, an American history scholar with hardly any online presence.
Polling in Gaza has always been a difficult process due to the fear and intimidation tactics used by Hamas. With the displacement of almost two million Gazans since the war started, polling has become even more difficult.
The ISEP poll used quota sampling to gauge the opinions of 400 respondents from 34 of their prewar locations in the Deir el-Balah and Khan Yunis governorates. The respondents were generally at least 15 years old.
The use of quota sampling means that the respondents were selected in a nonrandom fashion, and therefore, the results may easily be biased.