More than half of people in Gaza would consider leaving if given the opportunity, a polling company has said.

A survey by Gallup International questioned residents in a number of locations across the Strip in the first half of March.

It found that while the biggest proportion – 39 per cent – said they would stay in Gaza and had no plans to leave, 14 per cent said they would leave permanently if given the opportunity and a further 38 per cent said they would leave temporarily but return in the future.

The findings follow Donald Trump’s controversial “Riviera of the Middle East” vision for the enclave, which envisages the displacement of the existing population to other countries.

Announcing the plan in February, Mr Trump said the Strip had become an uninhabitable “hellhole”.

The poll of 532 Gazans aged 18 and above began on March 2, the day Israel stopped aid entering the enclave, and ended on March 13, before the ceasefire ended.