More than 50% of Americans oppose arms shipments to Israel

By Merve Aydogan

TORONTO, Canada (AA) - A US research center revealed Tuesday that more than 50% of Americans want the Biden administration to halt weapons shipments to Israel until it stops attacks on the Gaza Strip.

"Fifty-two percent of Americans agree that the US government should halt weapons shipments to Israel until Israel stops its attacks on Gaza," the Center of Economic and Political Research (CEPR) said in a statement.

CEPR said the poll revealed "a major partisan split as 62 percent of respondents who voted for President Biden in 2020 agree with the statement, ‘The US should stop weapons shipments to Israel until Israel discontinues its attacks on the people of Gaza,’ while just 14 percent disagree."

"By contrast, only 30 percent of Trump voters support halting US weapons shipments, while a majority (55 percent) oppose, and another 15 percent say they are unsure," it added.

The poll was conducted between Feb. 27 - March 1 and respondents were asked about stopping US arms shipment to Israel. Americans favored doing so "by a margin of 52 to 27 percent, with 21 percent unsure."

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv said killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 30,600 Palestinians have since been killed and over 72,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The US has provided 21,000 precision-guided munitions to Israel since October, according to media reports.

Other types of munitions and weapons also include tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells, thousands of bunker-buster munitions and 200 kamikaze drones.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.