Share of college students blaming Hamas for Oct. 7 attack on Israel declines in new poll

The share of U.S. college students who blame Hamas for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel has declined by more than 10 percentage points in the last six months, according to a new Generation Lab poll of two- and four-year college students.

Forty-one percent of college students say Hamas deserves blame for its Oct. 7 attack, which the Israeli government says killed 1,200 people — down from 52% who said that in a Generation Lab poll released in mid-October after the attack, which prompted an Israeli military response in Gaza that continues.

By contrast, 27% in the new poll believe Israel deserves blame for the Hamas attack, which is up from 11% in October.

An additional 12% blame other Middle Eastern governments for the attack (which is unchanged from six months ago), and 20% say they blame someone else (down from 25% in October).

By party, 66% of Republican college students, 43% of independents and just 34% of Democratic college students say Hamas deserves blame for the attack.

By race and ethnicity, 49% of white college students, 34% of Latinos and 27% of Black respondents say it is to blame.

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Protests in support of Palestinians and against Israel’s war in Gaza after the attack have been in the news and have continued to roil college campuses across the country. More than 30,000 people have died in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities.

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The new Generation Lab poll also finds 63% of college students describing the Oct. 7 attack as an act of terrorism by Hamas — down slightly from 67% who said that six months ago.

And 20% said they see the attack as a justified act of resistance by Hamas, which is up from 12% in October. 

The Generation Lab poll of 1,392 two- and four-year college students was conducted April 23, and the survey has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.