One aim of the Israeli strikes on targets such as the university, some analysts maintain, is to undermine support for the organisation among the general public in Gaza. Even in peacetime the popularity of Hamas, which seized de facto control of Gaza in 2007 after winning a surprise victory in Palestinian elections in 2006, is hard to judge. In war it is almost impossible.

“In Gaza many people are of coursevery angry at Israel for the destruction here [but] some are questioning the armed struggle of Hamas too … but no one is speaking out against Hamas in the middle of a conflict, they would be seen as traitors,” said Mukhaima Abu Saada, a Gaza-based analyst.

Despite the devastation, some believe Hamas could gain from the conflict. Indeed, one reason for the war may be the weakness of the organisation, hit economically by the Israeli “siege” of Gaza and by regional realignments that deprived it of long-term support from Damascus and Tehran as well as more recent backing from fellow Islamists in Cairo. A particular problem was its inability to pay 40,000 government employees. Just months ago, Hamas was forced to agree to a Palestinian unity government and cede sole control of Gaza, at least in theory. But the war has changed the situation.