Palestinians have a far higher opinion of Islamic State (IS) than Arabs elsewhere, according to a new poll.

The Doha-based Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies surveyed views of the terrorist group in various countries, including Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

Only 11 per cent of respondents had a positive attitude towards IS, but among those whom the survey identified as residents of "Palestine", some 24 per cent reported positive views.

It is thought that the pollsters included respondents from both Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza in the "Palestine" category.

Mordechai Kedar, an expert on Arab media and public opinion, and lecturer at Israel's Bar Ilan University, said that he was unsurprised by the figures, because they reflected a heightened Palestinian faith in terrorism.

Today, he said, Palestinians "think that this is the only way to defeat Israel - conventional armies have failed to defeat Israel and they think IS's way is the only way that succeeds."