A majority of Britons surveyed (71%) felt it was fair to label the Israel military force's actions in Gaza as ‘genocide’
The survey, commissioned by UKPAN, a UK-based support group made up of Palestinian lawyers, academics and business leaders, also suggests that prosecutions and actions against Israel in international law courts have created a prevalent view that Israel is breaking international law.
Seven out of ten respondents (71%), excluding ‘don’t knows’ (39%), believe that Israel is committing acts amounting to genocide in Gaza, with more than a quarter of those respondents saying that is a ‘very fair’ analysis.
More than half of the UK 'wants to see British volunteers in Israel’s Gaza army prosecuted for war crimes', the survey suggests
Meanwhile, responses suggest that close to half (47%) of the British population believe that the UK should officially recognise a Palestinian state (with 80% of this opinion, once ‘don’t knows’ are excluded in the analysis).
A third (32%) of the UK population thinks Israeli forces are 'intentionally killing Palestinian civilians in Gaza', and less than one in five (18%) believe that 'Israel tries to minimise civilian casualties'.
Isam Uraiqat, co-director of UKPAN, said: “The data also points to a breakdown in previously held perceptions about the causes and background to the conflict.
"While the ‘origin story’ of Israel and the displacement of local populations is still widely recognised as relevant by the survey’s respondents, we see ‘blame’ increasingly being placed on Israel’s shoulders for the continuation of the wider, long-running conflict.”
Twelve months on from the start of the war on Gaza, the survey data suggests that when it comes to Israel/ Palestine, the UK government and the UKs two biggest political parties are out of sync with British public opinion - and that a significant proportion of the public wish to see Israel held to greater account for its actions in the last year in particular.
Among survey respondents who voted Labour in 2019 or 2024, approximately two in three take positions supporting the rights of the Palestintian people take pro-Palestinian positions on many of the questions in the survey.
UKPAN commissioned a survey of a representative sample of 2,980 adults across Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales), which was randomised by gender, age, and region.
The survey was conducted on 9-11 June by Find Out Now, a rule-abiding member of the Market Research Society and British Polling Council.
A full report detailing the results will be published later in October.
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