Three out of four British Muslims don't believe that Hamas committed murder and ... trends now
Three out of four British Muslims do not believe Hamas carried out murder and rape in the October 7 attacks in Israel, a shock new poll suggests.
The largest survey of its kind since the current Israel-Hamas conflict began also shows 46 per cent of those questioned saying they sympathised with the militant group.
The findings come on the six-month anniversary of the October 7 massacre which saw Hamas terrorists kill about 1,200 citizens and take 253 hostage.
Interfaith leaders say the results show how 'a lot of work needs to be done to inform, challenge, and address old anti-Semitic tropes that are still circulating'.
The survey was commissioned by the Henry Jackson Society, a counter-extremism think-tank, and carried out by polling firm J L Partners.
Pro-Palestine protesters held placards and flags outside the Home Office in London on Friday
Mourners were today pictured visiting the site in Re'im, Israel, where revellers were kidnapped and killed in Hamas's terror attacks on the Nova musical festival last October 7
Soldiers were seen visiting a bomb shelter there, on the six-month anniversary of the massacre
When asked whether Hamas committed murder and rape on October 7, just 24 per cent of British Muslims said they did - in contrast to 62 per cent of the wider public.
In the October 7 attack, Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people - mostly civilians - while taking an estimated 250 hostage.
Militants still hold about 130 hostages, a fourth of them believed to be dead.
Most of the others were released during a week-long ceasefire in November.
The war has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
About 80 per cent of Gaza's population have been driven from their homes and a quarter face starvation.
Israel presented to the International Court of Justice in January horrifying footage of civilians being slaughtered and mutilated by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
An introduction to the film shown at The Hague told how more than 3,000 militants 'invaded Israel from the land, sea and air' in over 20 communities near the border and at the Nova music festival in Re'im.
Today's poll says 39 per cent of British Muslims said Hamas did not commit atrocities, while 37 per cent said they did not know whether they had or had not.
Younger and well-educated Muslims appeared the most likely to think Hamas did not commit atrocities that day - including 47 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 and 40 per cent of university
