Hamas Maintains Control in Gaza with UN Support, Claims Israel

The leader of Hamas in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, stated that Hamas will not accept a puppet government in the Gaza Strip and will remain in control, despite Israel's intention to destroy the group. Hamdan compared any attempt to replace Hamas with a US-backed administration to Nazi Germany's puppet state in France during World War II. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that the Palestinian Authority (PA) should eventually take control of Gaza, but Abbas, the leader of the PA, stated that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the State of Palestine. The PA was driven out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007, and since then, Hamas has maintained control over the territory.