Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants gather at a mourning house for Palestinians who were killed during Israel-Gaza fighting, as a ceasefire holds, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip August 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

JNS.org – Seventy-one percent of Palestinians support the terrorist murder of two Israeli Jews in Huwara, Samaria, on Feb. 26, according to a public opinion poll conducted earlier this month. Only 21% of those surveyed were against the attack and similar armed attacks.

Brothers Hallel  Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, were shot by a Palestinian terrorist as they sat in traffic in the Arab village.

The poll, conducted by The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in partnership with the Ramallah office of the German think tank Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, shows a general hardening of attitudes in the Palestinian population, with growing support for a more militant approach to the conflict with Israel.

For the first time since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, a majority (52%) now support its dissolution, while just 42% say the continuation of the PA is in the interest of the Palestinian people.

For the study, 1,200 adults were interviewed in person at 120 randomly selected locations in the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria between March 8-11, 2023, according to PCPSR. The margin of error is 3%.

“Public evaluation of internal conditions points to a greater deterioration in the standing of the P.A. and a significant loss of trust in it,” PCPSR said in a press release.

“Findings show a rise in the belief that the P.A. is now a burden on the Palestinian people and for the first time in our polls, a majority supports the dissolution of the PA and views its collapse as an interest for the Palestinian people. In fact, a majority thinks that the continued existence of the PA serves the interests of Israel and that its dissolution or collapse would strengthen Palestinian armed groups.”

Only 27% of Palestinians support the concept of the two-state solution while 71% oppose it.

Seventy-three percent opposed and only 21% supported Palestinian attendance at last month’s security summit in Aqaba, Jordan, in an effort to stop the escalation of the armed conflict in Judea and Samaria.

A second regional security summit discussing security coordination between Israel and the P.A. ahead of Ramadan was scheduled for Sunday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.