WASHINGTON - A growing number of young Americans think Israel’s assault on Gaza constitutes a genocide, according to data from the Economist/YouGov poll.

According to polling data released on January 24, people aged 18 to 29 are significantly more inclined (49 per cent) to think that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza than the public, which is little more than one-third.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, killing at least 26,637 Palestinians and injuring 65,387.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The UN reports that 85 percent of Gaza’s population have been internally displaced by the Israeli offensive, and 60 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, resulting in severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine for its population.

The International Court of Justice issued its interim ruling on January 26, in which it ordered Israel to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

South Africa brought the case to the court in December, asking it to grant emergency measures to end the ongoing assault on the besieged enclave.

Most of the confirmed dead in Gaza, roughly two-thirds, have been women and children. Thousands more are assumed dead under the rubble after Israel’s war laid waste to wide swathes of the coastal enclave.