The share of American 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 that the Israeli government says killed 1,200 people — down from 52% who said that in an earlier Generation Lab poll released in mid-October 2023 after the attack, which prompted an Israeli military response in Gaza that is still ongoing.
By contrast, 27% in the new poll believe Israel deserves blame for the Oct. 7 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 Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
By race and ethnicity, 49% of white college students, 34% of Latinos and 27% of Black respondents say Hamas is to blame.
These numbers come as protests in support of Palestinians and against Israel’s war in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack have been in the news and continued to roil college campuses across the country. More than 30,000 have died in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities.
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 was conducted on April 23 of 1,392 two- and four-year college students, and the survey has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.