Hostages are ‘subject of the day’ in Israel after Sinwar’s death, says retired IDF colonel

We spoke to Miri Eisin, a retired Israel Defense Forces colonel with a background in military intelligence.

Matt Frei: I wonder if you could just fill in some of the details that we’re still missing about how this operation actually came to be today in the killing of Yahya Sinwar. We’ve heard conflicting reports. One was that they acted on intelligence, the Israelis. And the other one was that they actually just stumbled across him in this building.

Miri Eisin: One of the things about this war is that it’s a combination of all of the above. When we look at what Israel has done against Hezbollah targets up north in Lebanon, everybody sees a lot more the direct correlation between intelligence and the action. Inside the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is made up out of – aside from the two million people who live above ground – Hamas built underground those hundreds of miles of subterranean tunnels. And what the IDF has been acting inside for the last year almost is in slowly and systematically trying to dismantle and blow up the underground tunnelling system, which is only for the Hamas terror fighters and for Yahya Sinwar amongst others.

So in this case, it was what you would call the systematic, common, going into trying to find both the terrorists themselves, the shafts that opened down and under. And again, this is basically in accordance to what’s been come out until now, is that they view terrorists inside a building, fired at the building. When they went inside, they found the three people. One of them was Yahya Sinwar and thus ended Yahya Sinwar, who pretty much for the last year was subterranean underground.

And you ask that question and I go, 101 hostages, and I know that that’s not the subject of the day right now, but that’s the subject of the day in Israel, because the implications of Yahya Sinwar being killed, is the opportunity to open up the door to the end of it, not just for the Palestinians, in my heart, can go out to them, for the 101 hostages that Yahya Sinwar was holding in the Gaza Strip.

Matt Frei: Okay. But we’ve always been told that actually, you know, he would surround himself with these hostages or some of them as a human shield. And does it surprise you that there was no evidence of these hostages in the place where he was killed?

Miri Eisin: If you remember, around a month ago, six hostages, one of them an American citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were executed by Hamas 24 hours before Israel arrived at them. And it was very near, at least according to the reports that are coming out right now inside Israel, that it was very near where Yahya Sinwar today was killed. And I don’t know this, I am just saying right now in the speculation, that those six were near Sinwar.

And I think in its own way, as I look at that, that’s to me the opportunity today. Meaning he was such a hardliner, he preferred to execute those six people rather for Israel to get to them. And today he died as he died without hostages around them. But that was part of that aspect then. So I take it one step at a time. There’s still 101 there. We need to find them as well.

Matt Frei: But what about the opportunity of scaling down the fighting? Because the prime minister, your prime minister, told your nation tonight that the fight will continue until all the enemies of Israel are wiped out. I mean, first of all, how many enemies is he talking about? And secondly, if this was such a milestone, then surely this could be an opportunity to scale down the fighting in Gaza.

Miri Eisin: One of the interesting aspects is, as I was watching the clips that you were showing there, is what I watched here and what you chose to show right now, because you did not show the full clip of the prime minister. You did not translate that he actually…

Matt Frei: We don’t have the time to do that, especially when it’s in Hebrew.

Miri Eisin: …talked to the hostage families, you can put the hold in that sense. I am not a supporter of the prime minister. This is not about him. This is about the heinous attack of October 7th, the 101 Israelis who were there. And, sir, at this stage, the Hamas right now, not led by Yahya Sinwar, can bring the 101, and the war is over, period and done. And it’s as if nobody wants to say any of that, that the 101 hostages that have been held the whole time are a non-issue. I disagree with you, that the fact that Hamas…

Matt Frei: Hang on a minute. I never said they were a non-issue. I never said. I spent a lot of time with these families. I was in Israel last week. I went to a number of demonstrations in their honour, in their memory. The argument, the question rather, I have is this. Where’s the political solution to this? Because all wars at the end of the day have to have a political settlement. I see no evidence of the government, your government, thinking about that. [

Miri Eisin: I think the government is thinking about it, and I may not agree with a lot of what they think about. I also think that I need to acknowledge as an Israeli, and the world, that what kind of resolution do you want me to arrive at? It’s set for some kind of end of fighting, okay. This isn’t peace. I can’t do peace with somebody who calls for my annihilation. So I absolutely agree with you that we need to arrive at an end to this horrific war. And to me, that comes with 101 Israelis who come home, because in the meantime, Hamas have never changed what they say. They say it openly. Hezbollah says it openly.

I don’t know how to resolve that. I’d like to see the world call them out more in that sense. On why are they calling for our annihilation, this isn’t about the Palestinians. I feel that I, Miri, have done more to help the Palestinians in my lifetime than the Hamas have ever done, let alone Hezbollah or Iran. So pose it as being about that is a challenge.