New poll finds half of U.S. adults say Israel has gone too far in the war in Gaza, a rise driven by shifting Republican sentiment
Some 50% of the adults in the U.S. believe Israeli operations in Gaza have “gone too far,” according to a poll conducted from Jan. 25 to 28 by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The figure is up from 40% in November, indicating the change in views among Americans — especially Republicans — over the controversial issue.
While the sentiment that Israel has gone too far increased among both Democrats and Independents, it nearly doubled for Republicans, from 18% in November to 33% in January.
The poll also found that 35% of U.S. adults view Israel as an ally that shares U.S. interests and values, a similar percentage as in August before the war broke out, but down 9% from November.
A similar proportion of Americans, 36%, say the U.S. is not supportive enough of Palestinians, up from 31% in December.
Released Palestinian detainee alleges ‘humiliating’ treatment by Israeli forces
A Palestinian man who was released from Israeli detention has alleged a group of them were blindfolded and poorly treated while they were held.
Speaking to an NBC News crew at the Abu Youssef El-Najjer Hospital in southern Gaza, Mahmoud Hussein Salam said he was arrested last week in Khan Younis.
“When they first arrested us, they stripped us of our clothes, all of us,” he said, “They made us wear a nylon suit. We stayed for two days. We ate under threat of a weapon, and we sat on the floor with water in the rain and cold.”
NBC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.
Asked if he knew where they were taken, Salam said he could not say “because our eyes were blindfolded.”
Describing their treatment as “humiliating,” Salam, whose wrists were bandaged, said a group of men were beaten up by Israeli forces.
“My hand has wounds from the handcuffs,” he added. His hand appeared visibly swollen and bruised.
He added that Israeli troops “hit us with the buttstock; when you fell on the ground, they continued to beat you in your legs.”
Hisham Adwan, a spokesman for the Gaza border crossing, confirmed that 114 Palestinian detainees crossed into Gaza via the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing on Thursday morning.
Adwan said that the prisoners were in a “difficult health condition,” and were reunited with their families as they sought medical attention at the hospital.
Israeli strikes hit targets near Damascus, Syrian state media reports
Israel struck targets to the south of the Syrian capital, Damascus, state media in the country reported today citing an unnamed military source.
The strikes were launched from the direction of the Golan Heights, the SANA news agency reported, adding that property was the only thing that was damaged.
NBC News approached the Israel Defense Forces for comment.
Israel annexed the 460-square-mile Golan Heights in 1981, a move that was not recognized by the international community. Syria demands the return of the strategic plateau, which also overlooks Lebanon and borders Jordan.
Rafah a ‘pressure cooker of despair’ as Gazans flee south, U.N. says
Gaza’s overcrowded southern city of Rafah is turning into a “pressure cooker of despair” as thousands of people continue to flee there from intense fighting in nearby Khan Younis, the United Nations’ aid coordination office said today.
The warning comes as Israel said it will move its military operations farther south toward Rafah, which sits on the border with Egypt. Thousands of Gazans fled to the city after the Israeli military moved into the north of enclave and told people to move south.
“Rafah is now a pressure cooker of despair and we fear for what happens next,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “In recent days, thousands of Palestinians have been fleeing to the south to Rafah, which is already hosting over half of Gaza’s population of some 2.3 million people,” he added.
Laerke said most of the new arrivals are already living out in the open or in makeshift structures and tents, raising concerns about the escalating humanitarian crisis.
Turkish police rescue hostages held at gunpoint for hours in Gaza protest
Police have rescued seven hostages held at gunpoint for hours at a factory owned by U.S. company Procter & Gamble in northwest Turkey, local officials said early today.
A gunman had sparked the standoff at the P&G facility in Gebze, Kocaeli province, in protest against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Gov. Seddar Yavuz was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Police initiated…
Read More: IDF to push Gaza offensive to Rafah, a ‘pressure cooker of despair’