One in ten youngsters have ‘sympathy’ with Hamas a year on from October 7 atrocity, shocking figures show – as Israel prepares to mark its deadliest day since the Holocaust

Shocking new figures show the level of sympathy and ­support for Hamas on Britain’s streets as Israel today marks the anniversary of the ­October 7 terror attack.

The findings reveal one in ten of those aged 18 to 24 have a ­’favourable view’ of Hamas a year after the group’s deadly incursion left almost 1,200 dead, including 36 children.

With the most extreme views coming among young people, it has raised fears about extremism being sown on college and university campuses.

Some 13 per cent of young people do not believe that media reports about the atrocities are ‘broadly true’ – believing that they have been exaggerated or invented, while 16 per cent believe the massacre was ‘justified’.

The Prime Minister, who hosted British relatives of some of the victims at Downing Street last week, said ‘we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community’ and ­reiterated his calls for a ceasefire. Sir Keir Starmer described the massacre as ‘the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust’, adding: ‘Over a thousand people were brutally ­murdered. Men, women, children and babies killed, mutilated, and tortured by the terrorists of Hamas.

Saturday saw thousands of pro-Palestine protesters descending on central London – many chanting offensive taunts.. (Protesters attending Saturday’s March)

Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists are seen on their way to cross the Israel-Gaza border fence from Khan Younis during the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7

Someone holds a Socialist Worker Party placard reading ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, which many believe is antisemitic

The flag of Israel is carried by an attendee at the Remembering October 7 communal memorial event at Hyde Park on October 6

Some 13 per cent of young people do not believe that media reports about the atrocities are ‘broadly true’. (Crowds hold up candles and placards during a minute’s silence showing pictures of Israeli hostages)

‘Jewish people murdered whilst protecting their families, young people massacred at a music festival, people abducted from their homes.

‘Agonising reports of rape, torture and brutality beyond comprehension which continued to emerge days and weeks later. As a father, a husband, a son, a brother – meeting the families of those who lost their loved ones last week was unimaginable. Their grief and pain are ours, and it is shared in homes across the land.’

Tens of thousands crowded into London’s Hyde Park yesterday to mark today’s anniversary and demand the release of the remaining hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas.

Saturday saw thousands of pro-Palestine protesters descending on central London – many chanting offensive taunts and others holding banners endorsing terror groups. Among the shocking images to emerge were two women holding signs emblazoned with the message ‘I love ­Hezbollah’ and ‘Hezbollah are not terrorists’.

Responding to the poll findings by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick writes in the Mail today: ‘Our country has become unrecognisable from the liberal, tolerant nation we like to pride ourselves on.

‘It’s time we stood up and showed a backbone. The longer weak politicians such as Sir Keir Starmer maintain a conspiracy of silence over Islamism, the more fractured our society will become.’

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘Hezbollah is a proscribed terrorist organisation. Promoting it in Britain is a criminal offence.

‘Extremism has no place on Britain’s streets. The police have our support in pursuing those breaking the law today.’

Conducted by YouGov and commissioned by the CAA, the survey polled 2,615 adults.

A CAA spokesman said: ‘Extremism is becoming normalised in our country.’

A Government spokesman said: ‘Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in our society. We must not shy away from naming it ­wherever it rears its head in this country and we are taking strong action to tackle it in all its forms.’