In the midst of a renewed Israeli military campaign and a U.S. proposal to take ownership of the Gaza Strip, a senior Israeli diplomat has told Newsweek that the country had no plans to govern the war-battered Palestinian territory once Hamas was defeated.

Protests against Hamas are rare in the Gaza strip. The terror group has cracked down violently on demonstrations in the past, with Amnesty International reporting in 2019 that people had been beaten and detained arbitrarily over protests against the cost of living. It also said protesters had been subject to torture while in detention.