Gaza war: 2 years after Oct. 7, Americans’ views have changed, survey shows
Trump: Gaza peace deal 'should be completed this week'
President Trump said in a social media post Sunday evening that the first phase of the Gaza peace deal "should be completed this week," and if parties don't move quickly "massive bloodshed will follow."
Two years into Israel’s military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Americans’ skepticism of Israel’s operation and its government is higher than at earlier points in the conflict, according to a new survey.
The data comes from Pew Research Center’s panel of more than 3,400 randomly selected adults. The survey was conducted last month.
Americans’ view of the Israel-Hamas conflict
By the numbers:
According to the survey, 39% said Israel was "going too far" in its military operation against Hamas. This was up from 31% a year ago and 27% in late 2023.
The survey found that 42% of U.S. adults disapproved of the Trump administration’s response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, while 30% approved. Roughly a quarter (27%) said they weren’t sure.
Smoke rises from residential areas following Israeli military attacks on several areas south of Gaza City, Gaza on October 06, 2025. (Credit: Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The data also revealed that 59% held an unfavorable opinion of the Israeli government, up from 51% in early 2024.
Meanwhile, 16% said Israel was taking about the right approach to the conflict, and 10% said it isn’t going far enough.
Clear majorities of Americans also express at least some concern about Hamas attacking Israel in the future (74%) and the Israeli military forcing Palestinians to leave Gaza (69%). About four-in-ten say they are extremely or very concerned about these possibilities.
One-third of adults say US providing too much military assistance to Israel
Dig deeper:
A third of adults (33%) said the United States was providing too much military assistance to Israel. Far fewer (8%) said the U.S. was not providing Israel enough military assistance. About a quarter (23%) say it is providing about the right amount, and 35% weren’t sure.
By comparison, 35% of respondents said the U.S. was not providing enough humanitarian aid to Palestinian citizens in Gaza, while 9% said it is providing too much humanitarian aid. Two-in-ten said the U.S. was providing about the right amount, and 35% weren’t sure.
Partisan gaps in these views
In addition, 70% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents viewed the Palestinian people favorably, compared with 37% of Republicans and GOP leaners.
Meanwhile, 55% of Republicans viewed the Israeli government positively, compared with just 18% of Democrats.
Democrats were equally likely to have a favorable as unfavorable view of the Israeli people (48% each). By comparison, 67% of Republicans had a favorable view.
Eighty-two percent of Republicans and 56% of Democrats viewed the Palestinian Authority unfavorably. At least eight-in-ten in both parties viewed Hamas unfavorably.
Editor’s Note: The survey was conducted before Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier this week that Israel had agreed to a U.S.-led peace plan, which Hamas says it’s considering.
Israel-Hamas war
The backstory:
It’s been two years since Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, plunging the region into war.
Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack and 251 others were abducted. Forty-eight remain in Gaza, around 20 of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half the dead.
RELATED: Watch live: Israel remembers October 7 attack, 2 years later
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled from one end of the blockaded territory to the other and back again, some in trucks stacked high with mattresses, others on foot carrying their children. People returning to their homes have often found their entire neighborhood blasted to rubble.
The latest on peace talks
Dig deeper:
President Donald Trump appears determined to deliver on pledges to end the war and return all hostages ahead of Tuesday’s second anniversary of the Hamas attack that sparked it on Oct. 7, 2023. His proposal has widespread international support.
Israeli and Hamas officials are holding indirect talks in an Egyptian coastal resort on a U.S.-drafted peace plan to end the war in Gaza.
The talks focus on the ceasefire’s first stage, including the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces as well as the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, according to a Hamas statement.
Many uncertainties remain about some elements of the plan including the disarmament of Hamas and the future governance of Gaza.
The Source: Data in this report comes from Wave 180 of the American Trends Panel (ATP), Pew Research Center’s nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. The survey was conducted from Sept. 22 to Sept. 28, 2025. A total of 3,445 panelists responded out of 3,926 who were sampled, for a survey-level response rate of 88%. (The survey was conducted before Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier this week that Israel had agreed to a U.S.-led peace plan, which Hamas says it’s considering.) This story was reported from Los Angeles. Chris Williams contributed.