A 58-percent majority of Americans believe that every country in the United Nations should recognize Palestine as a nation, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday, reflecting Israel’s increasingly precarious international position after 22 months of a grueling and destructive war in Gaza.

Some 33% of respondents did not agree that UN members should recognize a Palestinian state and 9% did not answer.

The six-day poll, which closed on Monday, was taken within weeks of three countries — close US allies Canada, Britain and France — announcing they intended to recognize the State of Palestine. This ratcheted up pressure on Israel as the UN and aid groups warned of spreading starvation in Gaza.

Britain, Canada, Australia and several of their European allies said last week that the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave has reached “unimaginable levels,” as aid groups warned that Gazans were on the verge of famine.

The UN human rights office said on Tuesday that Israel was not letting enough supplies into the Gaza Strip to avert widespread starvation.

The UN last week warned that starvation and malnutrition in the Palestinian territory are at their highest levels since the war began with the Hamas-led massacre on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

A larger majority of the Reuters/Ipsos poll respondents, 65%, said the US should take action in Gaza to help people facing starvation, with 28% disagreeing. The number disagreeing included 41% of US President Donald Trump’s Republicans.

Trump and many of his fellow Republicans take an “America First” approach to international relations, backing steep cuts to the country’s international food and medical assistance programs in the belief that US funds should assist Americans, not........

© The Times of Israel