Just 4% of Israelis believe Gaza war aims ‘fully achieved’: Poll
Israel’s Maariv newspaper has released a survey assessing Israeli public opinion on the war in Gaza.
According to the poll, carried out by Lazar Research, 57 percent of Israelis believe that the country’s war objectives have not been “fully achieved” and 32 percent believe they have “not been achieved at all”.
Only four percent of respondents said Israel’s war aims have been “fully achieved” in Gaza.
An aerial view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble of destroyed houses and buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, on January 19
Hamas ‘message’ being received inside Israel
Large Palestinian crowds attending the captives’ release demonstrate Hamas’s “popularity and legitimacy”, according to Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
“Clearly Hamas is trying to send a message of strength and confidence to all of the observers, not just Palestinians inside of Gaza, but also other Arab states, mediators and people that might have a say in post-war Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera.
There may be “a subtle or not-so-subtle” message for the Israeli government and society, Elmasry added.
“It is an attempt to humiliate the Netanyahu government. We have to remember that not only was Netanyahu saying very confidently that he would destroy Hamas completely – militarily and as a governing body – but he said that they were on the verge of doing so,” he said.
“I think Hamas is trying to send a message that you were wrong and it is being received inside Israel.”
Palestinians gather in front of Yahya Sinwar’s destroyed house as Israeli captives are due to be released in Khan Younis, Gaza on January 30
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