Former senior Shin Bet official: "Hamas doesn't know where the hostages are"

Micha Kobi, a former senior official in the Shin Bet and the interrogator of Yahya Sinwar in an Israeli prison, addresses the state of Hamas after Sinwar's assassination in an interview with 'Maariv' and provides a troubling picture of the negotiations for a hostage deal.

"The main headquarters of Hamas is no longer operational, yet there are still guerrilla fighters from the terror organization fighting throughout the region, within local and even neighbourhood-based Hamas command posts." "Today, there is no one in all of Hamas who knows exactly where all the hostages are being held," claims Kobi.

He also added: "It is possible that someone is aware of the location of one or two, but I don't think there is anyone who is aware of the location of all of them." There is no such thing as a deal – this is extortion. They are mercilessly extorting the state.

Kobi's solution for finding the hostages is to contact the captors directly: "We need to pay money to the captors of the hostages." After Sinwar was eliminated, they talked about this idea – but it was not implemented in practice. "We need to move towards intelligence operations and reach out to knowledgeable families to provide information about the captives – in exchange for money."

He also notes that Hamas is not willing to cooperate or disclose details about the condition of the hostages.

Regarding the question of the day after, Kobi says, "We need to establish units from the IDF and Shin Bet that will take care of local administration, and appoint educators and health professionals from Gaza who are not affiliated with Hamas." We have killed 90 percent of Hamas members, but we must ensure that nothing remains except for their idea as a political party, without any ability to implement it."

He added: "They will do everything to continue the smuggling, so we must continue to control the route and monitor their movement." Otherwise, they will regain strength and weapons against us," he emphasizes.

Kobi concludes in the situation assessment: "If we work properly, within a year or two we can eliminate all of Hamas."