The majority of Americans support the United States aiding Israel's continued military offensive in Gaza in an effort to free the last remaining hostages, according to a new poll released Thursday.
NEWSMAX -- The Chicago Council on Global Affairs asked participants if they favored the U.S. "supporting the Israel militarily until the hostages are returned" and 60% responded in the affirmative. Significantly fewer, 49%, favored the U.S. "supporting the Israel militarily until Hamas is dismantled or destroyed."
When broken down by party affiliations, 76% of Republicans favored U.S. military support to free the hostages while only 55% of Democrats did. Democrats overwhelmingly favored recognizing a Palestinian state at 66% while only 33% of Republicans did. According to Israeli Defense Force estimates, there are 108 hostages still held by Hamas, approximately a third of whom are presumed dead.
Israel is the largest beneficiary of U.S. military and economic assistance in the world at a reported $3.8 billion for the current fiscal year. The support among the two major political parties was slightly more aligned when it came to aid with 29% of Republicans feeling the amount of aid is appropriate with 28% of Democrats feeling the same.
Since Hamas invaded northern Israel on Oct. 7 and killed 1,200 people, the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people according to Gaza's Health Ministry, and displaced millions more.
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll was taken between June 21 and July 1 of 2,106 U.S. adults with a sampling error of +/- 2.3 percentage points.