A poll finds that most Americans believe all nations should recognise Palestine, as U.S. support for Israel declines over the Gaza conflict.
Israel's military action in Gaza has been deemed excessive by the majority of responders (59 percent).
4,446 US individuals were polled between August 13 and August 16 for the survey, which was made public on Wednesday.
The statement "Palestine should be recognized as a country by all UN members" was supported by 58% of respondents. Among Democrats, the percentage increased to 78 percent, while among Republicans, it was 41 percent.
Remarkably, just 77% of Democratic respondents believed that "all UN members should recognize Israel as a country."
Leading rights organizations have called Israel's campaign of devastation, famine, and displacement in Gaza a genocide, and the report comes as international indignation over the campaign is growing.
US President Donald Trump's administration has brushed off international attempts to recognize a Palestinian state as pointless.
Palestine is already recognized by the vast majority of nations. It is unclear how Israel's current conflict in Gaza and the growth of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank—the two areas that would make up a Palestinian state—will be affected by additional recognition from Western nations.
Human rights activists have been urging the international community to implement sanctions and an arms embargo as concrete measures against Israel for its mistreatment of Palestinians.
Israel is violating international law by expanding its settlements in the West Bank and intensifying military and settler attacks.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich celebrated a newly announced plan for 3,400 illegal Israeli housing units between occupied East Jerusalem and Palestinian communities in the West Bank as an effort to eliminate the possibility of a Palestinian state.
“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not by slogans but by deeds,”
Smotrich said, according to the Times of Israel.
“Every settlement, every neighbourhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”
The International Court of Justice declared last year that Israel should leave the occupied Palestinian territories, which include Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, "as quickly as possible" since it is illegal.
Israel is a party to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids the occupying force from bringing "parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."
While continuing to give Israel billions of dollars in military aid while it solidifies its occupation of the Palestinian territory, successive US administrations have nominally endorsed the two-state solution.
How might US public support influence future UN recognition of Palestine?
As a majority of Americans now support Palestinian state recognition, U.S. political leaders may face increasing pressure to adjust policy. This shift could lead to greater U.S. endorsement or acquiescence toward international recognition efforts at the UN.
U.S. public opinion is influential globally, and growing support for Palestine may encourage other countries and international bodies to take bolder steps toward official recognition to reflect changing attitudes, contributing to momentum at the UN.
U.S. domestic opinion may push the government to adopt a more balanced approach in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, potentially easing objections to Palestinian membership or observer status in UN agencies.