Fresh details have emerged about warnings issued to Israel ahead of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, amid a report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned by the United Arab Emirates about plans for a major assault in the weeks leading up to the invasion.The latest information also sheds further light on previously reported warnings from Egyptian intelligence officials during the same period.According to Army Radio, the Shin Bet intelligence service conveyed to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warnings from its Egyptian counterparts that Hamas intended to “make the ground in Gaza tremble.”The Egyptian side provided only a general warning, without offering any specific details.In the days following the October 7 onslaught, an Egyptian intelligence official said Jerusalem had ignored repeated warnings that the Gaza-based terror group was planning “something big,” including an apparent direct warning from Cairo’s intelligence minister to Netanyahu, as cited by Times of Israel.According to the report, then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar assessed that the warning referred, at least in part, to Hamas seeking to raise the issue of kidnapped Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov in talks with Israel over a potential hostage deal.Shortly before the warning was issued, Hamas and Iraqi Shiite militia Kataeb Hezbollah, the group holding Tsurkov, had reportedly agreed that she would be treated as a Hamas asset in negotiations with Israel.The talks would involve the release of a large number of terrorists in exchange for the handover of two Israeli captives and the bodies of two IDF soldiers held in Gaza.The development comes as a new investigative report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz claimed that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed had warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a “major attack” against Israel. Netanyahu, however, reportedly did not share the warning with Israel’s senior security leadership.Around 10 days after their reported conversation, Hamas launched its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.The Haaretz report is based on the new book Kidnapped: 843 Days of Abandonment, which claims that bin Zayed spoke to Netanyahu for 45 minutes from Abu Dhabi. During the conversation, bin Zayed also reportedly urged Netanyahu to address broader sources of instability, including Gaza’s economic situation and rising tensions in the West Bank.According to a UAE presidential adviser interviewed for the book, bin Zayed was “surprised” by Netanyahu’s response, saying the Israeli prime minister did not appear “alarmed”.However, Netanyahu’s office has rejected the claims made by the report.In a post on X, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that any exchange of relevant information between the two countries took place solely through intelligence channels.“The press reports are false. No warning was given to the Prime Minister by the United Arab Emirates before October 7. If there was any relevant information, it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries,” it posted.
