“People underestimate how organized they are”
Former Hostage Eitan Mor
Former Hostage Eitan Mor on Hamas: ‘They Are Obsessed with Us’
According to former hostage Eitan Mor, who spent two years as a hostage of Hamas in Gaza, the terror group was no ragtag group of bezonians, but a well-disciplined enemy, used to enforcing strict rules on its members, and impressively well-informed about Israel and its people. More of Eitan Mor’s observations can be found here: “Hamas ‘will not give up until last Israeli is gone,’ former hostage Eitan Mor says,” by Keshet Neev, Jerusalem Post, January 12, 2026:
Former hostage Eitan Mor said he was “amazed” by how much intelligence he witnessed Hamas had on Israel during his time in captivity, adding that the terror group had been focused on rebuilding and preparing for further attacks.
By now, Mossad and IDF intelligence have thoroughly debriefed Eitan Mor, who has shared with them everything he knows about what Hamas knows. This may give the Israelis a clue as to how the terror group collects that information, and from whom, including Gazans allowed into Israel to work who at the same time amass intelligence for Hamas on IDF elite units such as Sayeret Matkal, on Israeli pilots, on weapons scientists; as well as from Israeli Arabs and even anti-Israel foreigners working for NGOs inside Israel.
Mor’s remarks came as right-wing ministers and lawmakers called for a complete takeover of the Gaza Strip during a Knesset conference on Monday titled Gaza the Day After: The Political Plan of the Israeli Right.
“People underestimate how organized they are,” Mor said about Hamas. “Shifts. Guard rotations. Thousands of shafts. Even under siege, they have food supplies for a year. The only real weakness is water.”
In other words, though Hamas has been battered by the IDF, Mor thinks the terror group is sufficiently well-organized and disciplined that it can still attract new recruits and reconstitute itself, so that the only sure-fire way to keep Hamas permanently down and out is for Israel to occupy not just Gaza behind the Yellow Line, but all of Gaza.
“They will not give up. Many of them told me: until you remove the last Israeli from here, we’ll keep kidnapping. Jihad is the highest commandment in their religion. They are obsessed with us; this is their life’s purpose,” he explained to the panel.
Eitan Mor lived in close quarters with Hamas members. He came to understand their fanaticism. He now realizes that this war with Hamas has no end. It is a jihad, and will only end, for the Muslims, when no Jews live on the land “between the river and the sea.” Because it was once possessed by Muslims, it must forever belong to them. Mor realized that his captors were obsessed with Israelis, with the Jews, and their “life’s purpose” is to kill them all.
Disciplined, well-organized, and frighteningly well-informed about Israel, according to Eitan Mor’s testimony, Hamas is down but not out. And that is why Mor spoke at a meeting of those who are so often described, carelessly, as “far-right.” These are people who understand Hamas’ unassuageable hatred of the Jewish state, and quite reasonably, they want Israel to relinquish no more territory, in east Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and — please note — in Gaza.