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.

Palestinian Muslim women pray during Laylat Al Qadr, also known as the Night of Power and marked on the 27th day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in front of the Dome of the Rock shrine at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)