Majority in poll fear Israel-Hamas conflict will grow into larger Middle East war

A majority of voters said that they are concerned that the violence between Israel and Hamas will escalate into a larger war in the Middle East. 

A new Quinnipiac poll found that 85 percent of voters said they are either very concerned or somewhat concerned that the fighting will expand into a war in the Middle East. Thirteen percent are either not so concerned or not concerned at all, according to the poll. 

More than three-fourths of voters also said that supporting Israel is in the national interest of the United States, including 84 percent of Republicans and 76 percent of Democrats.

Sixty-four percent of voters think the U.S. should send weapons and other military equipment to Israel for its response to the Hamas attack on the country more than a week ago.

Hamas, which controls Gaza and is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, launched a surprise attack on Israel 10 days ago, prompting Israel to declare war on the group.

The initial Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,400 Israelis, many of them civilians, as gunmen targeted farms, villages and a music festival. The group has taken at least 199 people as hostages.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in its retaliation, and it has launched an intense series of aerial strikes on Gaza.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, nearly 2,800 Palestinians have been killed, and another 9,700 have been wounded.

President Biden is slated to visit Israel on Wednesday in a show of support for that country.

However, his subsequent trip to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was cancelled after hundreds were killed in an explosion at an Israeli hospital. The Gaza health authorities said the cause was an Israeli airstrike, while Israel has said it was the result of a rocket fired by a Palestinian group.

When asked whether they were more likely to support Israelis or Palestinians in the wake of the attacks, 61 percent of those polled said the Israelis, while 13 percent said the Palestinians. When asked who was most responsible for the outbreak of violence in the region, 72 percent said Hamas, and 10 precent said Israel. Six percent said they were both equally to blame, and 12 percent did not have an opinion. 

The poll was conducted among 1,737 adults from Oct. 12 to 16 and has a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.