Seventy percent of the Israeli public is in favor of continuing to the second phase of the hostage release and ceasefire deal with Hamas, according to an television poll aired Friday, which found a nearly identical figure backs US President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip.
Channel 12 news said 21% of respondents are against second stage of the agreement, which would see the release of around 60 male hostages in return for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire in the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught.
The bodies of other captives would be returned in a third phase.
The remaining nine percent of respondents told the network they did not know whether they favor or oppose continuing to the deal’s second stage, negotiations on which were slated to begin this week.
Among those who voted for Netanyahu’s right-religious coalition, parts of which opposed the current deal, 54% back the second stage, versus 36% who are against and the remainder not knowing.
The agreement is now in its 42-day first phase, during which 33 children, women and older men are supposed to be released in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian terror convicts. So far, 13 hostages have been returned, and three more are set to be released from Gaza Saturday morning. Five Thai hostages were also freed outside the framework of the deal.
Protesters urge US President Donald Trump to see to completion the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, Tel Aviv, February 1, 2025. (Gilad Furst/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
The survey also asked Israelis if they are for or against Trump’s plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza, with 69% in favor and 18% opposed. The remaining respondents did not know.
Favorability marks were far higher among coalition voters, with 90% of those included in the survey expressing support.
Despite the plan’s popularity, half of respondents say they don’t believe it will ultimately come to fruition, compared to 36% who think it will.
Channel 12 did not say how many people took part in the poll, which was conducted Mano Geva’s Midgam polling company in cooperation with the iPanel online research firm, or provide a margin of error.
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