Egypt warned Netanyahu of possible attack from Gaza days before October 7

On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants and other Palestinian groups broke through from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. The attack resulted in the death of about 1200 people, and another 250 were taken hostage. The attack marked the beginning of the war in Gaza.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing officials from an Arab state and other sources familiar with the situation, in early October 2023, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel called the Israeli prime minister and warned him of signs of a possible attack from Gaza.

The warning did not contain precise information about the time and scale of a potential attack. However, according to the newspaper's sources, this was already the third signal Egypt had conveyed to the Israeli side in several months.

The first, rather general, warning came in June 2023. Egyptian representatives then said that the situation in Gaza was becoming unstable and advised Israel to resume talks with Hamas.

In September, Kamel himself flew to Israel with a more serious warning. According to WSJ sources, he told Israeli officials that the situation in Gaza had become critical and could spiral out of control. In response, he was told that the situation was under control.

The last known signal came days before October 7, when Kamel contacted Netanyahu's office directly. One of the newspaper's sources claims that the Egyptians continued to warn Israel even 48 hours before the attack.

The fact that Egypt warned Israel before the attack had been mentioned before. In 2023, Michael McCaul, chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated that the Egyptian side warned Israel approximately three days before the attack. But Kamel's personal call to Netanyahu, as written by WSJ, had not been reported previously.

Similar signals, according to the publication's sources, also came from the United Arab Emirates. As early as September 2023, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan allegedly told Netanyahu about signs of Hamas preparing for an attack. Arab intelligence services noted a change in rhetoric from the then-Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and frequent meetings between representatives of the group and "Islamic Jihad."

Netanyahu denied personally receiving such a warning from the UAE president. His office also previously stated that there were no conversations between the prime minister and the head of Egyptian intelligence in the months before October 7.

Warnings also came from within Israel

New information supplements already known facts about warning signals that Israeli structures received before October 7.

The Israeli army had a document with Hamas's invasion plan but considered such a scenario unrealistic. Female observers serving on the border with Gaza reported increased militant training, but their warnings also did not lead to an adequate response. Additionally, Israel's internal security service "Shin Bet" lacked intelligence sources in Gaza that could have revealed Hamas's plans in advance.

New information intensifies criticism against the Israeli prime minister amidst approaching parliamentary elections. The opposition accuses him of arrogance and criminal negligence, which led to the country's greatest tragedy. In turn, Netanyahu places responsibility on the leadership of the security forces and claims that they concealed vitally important information from him.

At the same time, analysts note that the problem was not only with the prime minister but also with a systemic error of the entire Israeli security apparatus. There was deep confidence in military and intelligence circles that Hamas would not dare to launch a major attack.

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