WASHINGTON — At a moment of growing international alarm about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, more US adults view Israel’s military action in the Palestinian territory as excessive than did at the beginning of the war, according to a new poll.

About half of Americans say the military response from Israel in the Gaza Strip has “gone too far,” according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s up from November 2023, when 40% said Israel’s military action had gone too far. That AP-NORC poll was conducted shortly after Hamas started the war by invading southern Israel on October 7, 2023, murdering some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seizing 251 hostages.

But at the same time, Americans overall, particularly Republicans, are less likely to say that negotiating a ceasefire should be a high priority for the US government than they were just a few months ago when the US was holding ceasefire talks with Hamas.

The shift in American attitudes about Israel’s actions comes as Israel begins an expanded ground offensive in Gaza City. Jerusalem is facing increased international scrutiny over its conduct in Gaza, with a team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council this week announcing it has concluded that Israel is committing “genocide” — a charge that Israel has strongly rejected.

Israel’s campaign against Hamas has already destroyed vast areas of the Gaza Strip, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts announcing a famine in Gaza City, which Israel denied. The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 65,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, whose figures cannot be verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

“The level of innocent women and children suffering,” said Renee Hollier, of Lafayette, Louisiana, who described herself as a political independent and mother of a toddler. “There’s just no justification for this kind of suffering to continue.”

The poll found a bipartisan uptick in Americans finding Israel’s military response has “gone too far.”

About 7 in 10 Democrats say this now, up from 58% in November 2023. And roughly half of independents say the same, compared with about 4 in 10 in the earlier measure. Republicans have also moved slightly, from 18% to 24%.

Concern about overreach from Israel was high in January 2024, when 50% of US adults said Israel had “gone too far,” but that fell slightly as the war continued.

And 45% of US adults now say it’s “extremely” or “very” important for the US to provide humanitarian relief to Palestinians in Gaza, similar to Americans’ views at the start of the war but up slightly from 41% in March.

Miguel Martinez, 55, of Miami, said it remains critical for US President Donald Trump’s Republican administration to prioritize humanitarian relief even as it backs the Israeli military’s effort to defeat Hamas. Martinez supports Israel’s aim to defeat Hamas, but he’s concerned that the conflict is dragging on.

“Not everyone there is the enemy,” said Martinez, a Republican who said he broadly approves of Trump’s handling of the conflict. “Those people need help.”

Despite the growing view that Israel has overstepped, Americans are less likely to consider it a high priority to negotiate a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas than they were when the Trump administration was heavily involved in negotiations. That downward shift is primarily driven by Republicans.

About half of US adults say it’s “extremely” or “very” important, down from 59% in March but in line with views from last year. Republicans have grown less likely to say it’s “extremely” or “very” important for the US to negotiate a permanent ceasefire since earlier in the year, while Democrats haven’t shifted.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the war will continue until Hamas is eliminated and the remaining hostages held by terror groups in Gaza are released from captivity.

In interviews, Americans across the political spectrum were downbeat about the prospects of the Trump administration mediating a lasting ceasefire. During the campaign, Trump pledged to quickly end the Israel-Hamas war as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He’s struggled with both.

Approval of Trump’s handling of the conflict is down slightly among US adults to 37%, compared with 44% in March.

“There’s an all-or-nothing attitude on both sides,” Martinez said of Israel and Hamas. “Any resolution, any ceasefire, it’s hard to see it being anything more than temporary.”

Netanyahu last week approved an audacious strike targeting top Hamas officials in the Gulf emirate of Qatar while they were discussing a new US-sponsored ceasefire and hostage deal proposal, an operation that killed five lower-level members of the terror group and a member of the Qatari security forces but failed to kill any of its targets.

Larry Kapenstein, 71, a Democrat from Middletown, Pennsylvania, said he’s worried about the conflict’s long-term ramifications for Israel’s economy and standing in the world.

“I side with Israel, and I think they’re in the right in this, but I think Netanyahu has just taken this too far,” Kapenstein said. “There’s got to be a better way.”

About 3 in 10 US adults said it is “extremely” or “very” important to negotiate the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, unchanged from January 2024. But that belief is especially pronounced among Democrats: About half now say this is highly important, up from 41% in 2024. That compares with 19% of independents and 14% of Republicans.

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly last week to support a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and urge Israel to commit to a Palestinian state, a move that Netanyahu vehemently opposed and that the US was one of the 10 countries to vote against.

The survey also found slightly less support for military aid for Israel.

About 2 in 10 US adults said it is “extremely” or “very” important for the US to provide aid to Israel’s military to fight Hamas, down from 36% at the war’s start. The decline has been particularly dramatic among Democrats, from 30% at the beginning of the war to 15% now.

Lehks Wright, 50, of Albany, Georgia, who is an independent, said it’s difficult to justify spending billions of dollars backing Israel’s military when the Trump administration is calling for sweeping cuts in federal spending on health care and other social programs.

“If you’re going to say we’re in a deficit and there’s government bloat, and I am not doubting that, then cut spending on other countries, too,” Wright said.