BEIT SAHOUR, West Bank, March 12 (UPI) -- The majority of Palestinians responding to a survey favor a lessening of tensions with Israel and a continuation of the current relative calm in the area.

The survey from the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion found that 73 percent of Palestinians asked supported the present lull in clashes with their Israeli neighbors, and 67.4 percent favored seeing Hamas back away from a "military decision" in the conflict.

Nearly 36 percent of the Palestinians polled listed "security" as their top concern. Jobs and personal finances were the leading concern of 25 percent. Three-quarters of the respondents considered the Palestinian economy to be in bad shape.

At the same time, 23.4 percent believed it was unlikely that their children would see peaceful relations between Israel and Palestinians, compared to 19.8 percent who though it was likely.

The poll of 1,220 adults was conducted in person between Feb. 22 and March 6, and had a margin for error of 2.8 percent, the center said.