JERUSALEM 

A recent Israeli public opinion poll found that only 32% of Israelis see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the most suitable figure for the premiership. 

Israeli daily Maariv reported on the survey results published Friday, stating that 32% of respondents “believe that Netanyahu is the most suitable for the premiership, while 52% said that the War Cabinet Member Benny Gantz is more suitable for the position."

The newspaper said the Israeli political map for this week, according to the poll, is “similar” to what it was last week. A similar poll last week showed that 31% of Israelis believe that Netanyahu is most suitable to head the government, compared to 50% who preferred Gantz.

The latest poll, conducted by Lazar Institute on a random sample of 513 Israelis with an estimated error rate of 4.3%, revealed that if elections were to be held that day, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party would lose half of its current 32 seats in the Knesset, the country's parliament.

Meanwhile, the National Unity Party, led by Gantz, would obtain 40 seats compared to its current 12 seats, with the opposition securing a total of 71 against 44 held by parties supporting the government.

Forming a government in Israel requires obtaining the confidence of at least 61 members of the Knesset.

Disagreements within the Israeli government are escalating between ministers supporting Netanyahu's policies on the country's onslaught on Gaza and others trying to push for a deal to ensure the return of hostages held by Palestinian group Hamas in the enclave.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the GazaStrip since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv says killed 1,200 people.

At least 26,083 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 64,487 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi​​​​​​​