Palestinian Public Opinion Polls No. 32

Abstract

After President Bush's visit to Ramallah which set in motion the ‎permanent status negotiations ‎between the Palestinians and the Israelis, ‎Israel escalated military operations against the Gaza Strip ‎and closed all ‎crossings banning the entrance of fuel and food except in very limited ‎amounts ‎raising danger in the Strip to the level of a human catastrophe ‎that the United Nations agencies ‎warned against. ‎ In the same context the Palestinian Authority warned that the Israeli ‎escalation will jeopardize the ‎negotiations and eventually will stop them. ‎Hamas and Islamic Jihad have called upon President ‎Abu Mazen to stop ‎negotiations dismissing them as useless and absurd.‎ On the other side of the scene, the Palestinian internal crisis is still going ‎on without any imminent ‎breakthrough; the PA insists on its demand of ‎Hamas to back up from their coup as a precondition ‎for a dialogue while ‎Hamas expresses willingness to conduct a debate without conditions.‎