Number of Germans opposing Israel's war on Gaza has nearly doubled since November, poll shows

Most Germans are against Israel’s war on Gaza, a poll conducted by the Forsa polling institute has shown, revealing that the number has almost doubled since November.

The results of the survey published in the weekly Stern magazine found that 61 percent of Germans oppose Israel's eight-month-long offensive in the Gaza Strip.

In November, support for Israel’s war was at 62 percent, indicating a drastic shift in public opinion.

There were 1,003 participants in the poll, which reportedly "has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent."

Tel Aviv has tried to gain global backing for its war following a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, which left around 1,190 people dead, according to Israeli figures.

The Palestinian fighters also took around 250 captives, some of whom remain in Gaza.

Hamas says the attack was in response to decades of brutal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, siege of Gaza, and killings of Palestinians as well as frequent Israeli raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

They have sought to swap captives for Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons, including at least 250 Palestinian children and over 3,400 Palestinians in administrative detention without charge or trial. 

While many nations initially stood by Israel following the events of 7 October, there has since been a massive backlash to the Israeli military’s offensive in the besieged Palestinian enclave, which has killed over 36,000 people, most of them women and children.

Even Germany, which stood strongly by Israel and provided it with weapons, has made relatively mild criticism of its conduct, saying the colossal death toll was unjustified.

The bombardment and hampering of aid deliveries has pushed the Gaza Strip to the brink of famine, with many civilians already dying of hunger. Thousands more civilians are believed to be buried beneath the rubble in Gaza, and the territory’s health system has virtually collapsed.