More residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip believe the Palestinian Authority should reach a truce with Israel, according to a poll by Near East Consulting. 64 per cent of respondents support a peace agreement, up 13 points since August.

In January, Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council election, securing 74 of the 112 seats at stake. Ismail Haniyeh officially took over as prime minister on Mar. 28. The Israeli government believes Hamas is directly responsible for the deaths of 377 citizens in a variety of attacks, which include dozens of suicide bombings.

On Jun. 28, Israel launched a military operation in response to a joint raid carried out by Palestinian militants on a military post outside of the Gaza Strip, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed, and one more, Gilad Shalit, was captured.

On Jul. 10, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert ruled out any discussions with the Hamas-led government, saying, "I will not release prisoners to trade for Gilad Shalit. I don’t negotiate with Hamas, I did not negotiate with Hamas and I will not negotiate with Hamas."

Yesterday, Israeli cabinet secretary Israel Maimon said any eventual meeting between Olmert and Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas would involve Shalit’s release, saying, "The two things are connected, but as Mr. Olmert has already indicated, it is not a condition. There is not at this stage an agreement for the release of the soldier."

Polling Data:

Do you support or oppose a peace agreement with Israel?

Source: Near East Consulting
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 802 Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, conducted on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8, 2006. Margin of error is 3.6 per cent.