A new investigation alleges Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received multiple warnings in September 2023 that Hamas was preparing a major attack, including one directly from the UAE president, but Netanyahu’s office categorically denies the reported conversation occurred.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was personally warned approximately 10 days before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that the terrorist group was preparing a major operation against Israel but did not relay the warning to his senior security chiefs, according to a new investigation that Netanyahu’s office has called an “absolute lie.”
United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed told Netanyahu during a roughly 45-minute phone conversation that then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a large-scale attack that could cause significant bloodshed and destabilize the region, Haaretz reported, citing three senior foreign sources familiar with the exchange.
Netanyahu’s office categorically denied the account, saying the prime minister did not have the conversation described by the newspaper and never received such a warning from bin Zayed.
An Emirati source familiar with the matter subsequently told The Times of Israel that bin Zayed had, in fact, warned Netanyahu that Hamas was planning a major attack.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington, UAE Embassy in Washington and Israel Defense Forces did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the investigation, the intelligence trail began before the alleged conversation between the two leaders.
Sinwar had been participating indirectly in negotiations with Israel over a possible arrangement concerning Gaza before those discussions deteriorated in September 2023. The Hamas leader allegedly told an intermediary associated with Fatah to warn Israel that he was preparing a massive surprise and an “earthquake” if negotiations failed to progress.
That message eventually reached Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service through the intermediary and an adviser to bin Zayed on Sept. 15, according to Haaretz.
Then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar reportedly briefed Netanyahu immediately.
Israeli security officials met two days later, on Sept. 17, to assess the information. Although the warning raised concern, officials did not conclude during that discussion that Hamas was preparing the type of massive cross-border assault that ultimately occurred three weeks later.
Bar reportedly warned participants that Israel was on a “collision course” and advocated either substantial offensive action or stronger defensive preparations in Gaza and the West Bank ahead of the Jewish holidays.
No operational decision resulted from the meeting, according to the investigation.
Bin Zayed reportedly became concerned that Israel was not responding sufficiently and contacted Netanyahu personally.
An adviser to the Emirati president told Haaretz that bin Zayed warned Netanyahu that Sinwar’s planned action threatened significant loss of life, broader Middle East instability and damage to the Abraham Accords.
Netanyahu reportedly responded calmly and said Israeli officials believed Hamas was more likely preparing an operation in the West Bank. He also assured the Emirati leader that Israel was prepared for any scenario.
Former Shin Bet chief Bar and former IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi both said they were never informed that bin Zayed had personally delivered such a warning to Netanyahu, according to the report.
A separate warning also reportedly reached Netanyahu from Egypt.
Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel warned the Israeli prime minister during roughly the same period about an unusual Hamas operation that could have devastating consequences, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing details from the Haaretz investigation.
Netanyahu reportedly responded that Israel had Gaza under control and that Israeli forces were concentrating primarily on the West Bank.
The Prime Minister’s Office has disputed the central allegation in unequivocal terms, saying Netanyahu neither spoke with bin Zayed during the period described nor received the alleged warning. It characterized the investigation as an “absolute lie.”
The dispute adds another dimension to continuing scrutiny of the intelligence and political failures preceding Oct. 7.
Hamas militants crossed from Gaza into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing roughly 1,200 people and abducting another 251, according to reporting by The Associated Press.
Israel subsequently launched its military campaign in Gaza. More than 73,650 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry cited by the AP.
The latest investigation does not establish that Israeli officials knew the exact timing, location or operational details of the Oct. 7 assault. It does, however, allege that increasingly specific warnings reached Israel during September 2023 — including directly to Netanyahu — while senior security officials failed to determine that Hamas was preparing an attack on the scale that ultimately occurred.
The central factual dispute now concerns whether bin Zayed personally delivered that warning to Netanyahu and, if so, why Israel’s top military and security officials say they were never told about it.
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