Almost half of Gazans willing to leave, survey finds

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Almost half of Gazans may be willing to apply to Israel to help them leave to other countries, according to a survey on Tuesday that also showed significant support for anti-Hamas protests.

The survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research was based on polling of people across the Gaza Strip and in the occupied West Bank between May 1-4, some six weeks after Israeli forces resumed operations in Gaza following the breakdown of a brief ceasefire.

The Center, a think tank based in Ramallah and funded by Western donors, said in the report that 49% of those surveyed declared that they would be willing to apply to Israel to help them emigrate via Israeli ports and airports, against 50% who said they would not be willing to do so.

Israeli officials have said that Israel will help Gazans who wish to leave the enclave but it has made little headway persuading other countries to accept them.

Although Israel's 19-month campaign has reduced most of Gaza to rubble and a blockade on aid since March has left the 2.3 million population increasingly short of food, many Palestinians believe that leaving would mean effectively surrendering their home to Israel.

Hardline Israeli ministers have made little secret of their wish to see the whole Gaza population moved out of the enclave, in line with U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to redevelop Gaza as a coastal resort under American control.

The survey also found that 48% of Palestinians in Gaza supported the series of anti-Hamas demonstrations that sprang up in various places around the enclave, a much higher level than among Palestinians in the West Bank, where only 14% backed the protests, a rare public show of opposition to the militant group.

At the same time, 54% of Gazans also thought the protests, which Hamas said were set up by Israeli intelligence services, were steered by outside hands and only 20% said they expressed the real opinion of the population.

The Center said the survey's sample was 1,270 with a margin of error of +/-3.5%.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

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