Amid the ongoing fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the future of Gaza and its 2.1 million inhabitants remains up in the air. The war has devastated Gaza, leaving its population with destroyed infrastructure, inadequate shelter, and a constant threat of further destruction. While external powers have proposed various steps forward for Gaza, there has been little focus on the perspectives of Gaza’s residents themselves.
In a new article published in Foreign Affairs, Scott Atran and co-author Ángel Gómez shine a light on Gazans’ views, highlighting a complicated picture of postwar Gaza. Support for Hamas among Gazans has declined, however alternatives to the group’s leadership draws even less support which leaves Hamas to continue to prop up their influence over the region. The war has also strengthened Gazans’ commitment to maximalist political goals, increasing opposition to a two-state solution and bolstering support for the dissolution of Israel.
These findings stem from a January 2025 survey formulated by Artis International—a research group of which Atran is a Co-Founder—that collected information on Gazans’ perspectives of the conflict, leadership, and the path forward. Carried out by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, the researchers conducted 500 face-to-face interviews with Gazans ranging in age from 18 to 83.
The survey also uncovered the varying expectations Gazans have for future peace. “About half the respondents said they expected peace, 44 percent expected a long-term truce, and seven percent expected more war. Of the roughly half that anticipated peace, however, two groups emerged, almost equal in size: those who expect peace as a negotiated outcome (24 percent) and those who expect peace to arise from Israel’s dissolution (25 percent),” Atran writes.
The people of Gaza have retained strong core values related to their Palestinian and religious identity, as well as their attachment to the land. Atran concludes that these values will play a crucial role in shaping future peace processes, and without addressing them, any efforts to create a long-term solution to the conflict may struggle to gain meaningful traction among the people of Gaza.
Read “What Gazans Want” in Foreign Affairs.
