Most Israelis want Hamas crushed despite Gaza casualties, UN rebuke
JERUSALEM, Dec 13 (Reuters) -
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After a week-long pause in hostilities in November, more than three-quarters of Israelis said the offensive should resume without adjustments that would reduce either Palestinian civilian casualties or international pressure, according to a poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute.…
…with much of [Gaza] laid to waste, conditions dire and more than 18,500 Palestinians killed in the Israeli army's air and ground assault, U.S. President Joe Biden said the "indiscriminate" bombing of Gazan civilians was costing Israel international support.
Polls in recent weeks show overwhelming backing for the war despite the rising human costs. Six Israelis who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday said now was not the time back down, regardless of fading global sympathy reflected in Tuesday's U.N resolution.
Hamas' killing of about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7 revived something Israel previously felt when Arabs staged a surprise attack in 1973 - fears that its neighbours and enemies could do away with the Jewish nation all together…
"The sense of the people is that this is a threat to the very existence of Israel," said Hermann, of the Israel Democracy Institute, which conducts regular opinion polls on the war. She said that people were prepared for more deaths of soldiers.
Although the cost was "terrible," the goal of the military operation was the total destruction of Hamas infrastructure in Gaza, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee chair Yuli Edelstein said in an interview.
Israeli media reporting of the war dwells less on the civilian cost in Gaza than international coverage does. Hermann said that while views on Palestinian casualties varied depending on Israelis' political leanings, some people felt the deaths were an acceptable price to pay for future security.
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Only 10% of Israelis thought the army was using too much firepower, according to a Tel Aviv University poll conducted in late October among 609 respondents, with a 4.2% margin of error.
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Israel says at least 19 of the 135 remaining hostages are dead…
Israelis have proven willing in the past to make concessions to free hostages or spare their troops’ lives, but Oct. 7, the deadliest single incident in Israel's 75-year-old history, has hardened opinions.
… almost 60% of Israelis, including 40% of Arab Israelis, cited destroying Hamas in any way possible as the most important goal of the war, according to the Tel Aviv University poll.