Two out of five Germans are in favour of recognizing Palestinian statehood, according to the results of a representative survey conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov.
According to the survey, 40% of respondents said that Germany should recognize Palestine as a state, while 27% were against and 33% did not say.
In recent weeks, Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia decided to recognize Palestine as a state, which triggered fierce protests from Israel. Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared a fortnight ago that the German government was not currently planning to recognize Palestine as a separate state.
Divisions are deepening over the war in Gaza. On May 24, the International Criminal Court the highest court of the United Nations (UN), ordered an immediate halt to Israel's military offensive in the Palestinian city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Israel has however continued its offensive on the city where 1.4 million Palestinians from elsewhere in Gaza had previously sought shelter, leading almost 1 million of them to flee again.
The European Union is now considering imposing economic sanctions against Israel.
According to the survey, around half (51%) of respondents would be in favour of the EU imposing economic sanctions on Israel, according to the survey. However, 26% said they completely or somewhat disagreed with such sanctions.
For the representative survey, YouGov interviewed 2,295 people eligible to vote in Germany. The survey took place between May 31 and June 5.