WASHINGTON — As the death toll mounts in Gaza to more than 1,900, polls indicate American’s support for Israel remains strong and in some cases has grown.

Those same polls, however, reflect a “deep partisan divide” and show a widening generational gap as sympathy for the Palestinians grows among younger people.

A Pew Research poll conducted between July 24 and 27 found that 40 per cent of Americans say Hamas is responsible for the current violence.

Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to blame Hamas, whereas Democrats are twice as likely to say Israel’s attack on Gaza has gone too far.

Opinion also differs according to race and ethnic background. While the majority of whites (55 per cent) think Israel’s actions are “about right” or have “not gone far enough,” only 38 per cent of blacks and Hispanics share that opinion. A plurality of African Americans and Hispanics believe Israel has gone too far and blame Israel for the violence.

Generally, young liberal Democrats (44 per cent) believe Israel has gone too far, while only 10 per cent of conservative Republicans believe that to be true, according to Pew.

Gallup has similar numbers. Its poll shows that 47 per cent of Democrats believe Israel’s attack on Gaza is “unjustified” and 31 per cent believe the opposite. Among Americans age 18 to 29, 51 per cent of believe Israel’s attacks on Gaza are unjustified and only 25 per cent support them.

Most young people get their news from social media, the Internet and the alternative press, giving them access to much broader views.

A Gallup poll also concludes that religious Americans “are significantly more likely than less religious Americans to be sympathetic to Israel.” g