Jerusalem, Feb. 9 : A Palestinian poll conducted after Operation Cast Lead has found that 56 percent of Gaza residents and 48.3 percent Palestinians living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem believe that Hamas is leading them in the wrong direction.

The poll, conducted by the Beit Sahour-based Palestinian Center for Public Opinion found that Fatah's popularity against Hamas has risen, the Jerusalem Post reports.

PCPO's General Director Dr. Nabil Kukali said, today, Hamas enjoys support of only 27.8 percent people in the Gaza Strip, compared to 51.5 percent of last year. And Fatah''s popularity rating in the Hamas-controlled coastal territory is 42.5 percent against last November's 31.4 percent.

"Many Palestinians suffered from the war in Gaza. They lost their homes and their families. The situation is unpredictable, and maybe they feel that Hamas did not make the right decision when it did not renew its six-month truce with Israel that expired in December," Dr. Kukali said.

In the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, Fatah is supported by 39.2 percent population, while Hamas is supported by only
23.7percent, according to the poll.

Last year, Fatah was supported by 68.6 percent people in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and by 31.4 percent supported it in Gaza.

But more than half of the total respondents (54.4 percent) believe that Israel should be held responsible for the recent war in Gaza, while only 14.5 percent felt that Hamas should be held responsible.

The PCPO poll also found that 86.1 percent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 89.6 percent in the West Bank supported a Palestinian-Israeli truce.

The polling company conducted face-to-face interviews with a random sample of 673 Palestinian adults in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem between January 25 and January 31, at least one week after a shaky cease-fire went into effect on January 18. It has a margin of error of 3.8 percent. (ANI)