'Bombshell' Report Says UAE Explicitly Warned Netanyahu of October 7 Attack

Policy experts in the US and Middle East on Tuesday were among those responding to an "astonishing" new investigation from Haaretz, which detailed how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was alerted weeks before the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack that a "major event" was being planned by the Palestinian group—an assault that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and which Israel has responded to by slaughtering more than 73,000 Palestinians so far in Gaza.

Highlighting revelations contained in an upcoming book called Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment, by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, the Israeli newspaper reported that Netanayahu dismissed a warning about the attack from United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed, which came in a phone call in September 2023.

An adviser to bin Zayed said that according to the president, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar "was preparing for a major event" and "Israel should be ready."

The UAE leader advised Netanyahu to "find an economic solution" for Gaza and to calm tensions in the West Bank to "prevent escalation."

At the time, Hamas had been holding talks for months with intermediaries in hopes of pushing Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza, which it had imposed at varying levels of intensity for nearly two decades, since Hamas won legislative elections in 2006. Before the 2023 attack and Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza—which has been called a genocide by human rights groups and Holocaust experts—Israel's blockade had left 80% of Palestinians in Gaza dependent on aid and had raised the poverty rate from 40% in 2005 to 61.6% in 2023.

Hamas' talks had also focused on exchanging four Israeli prisoners who had been held in Gaza for several years for Palestinian prisoners, more than 5,200 of whom were being held in Israel at the time.

Haaretz reported that an intermediary known as "coal eyes," a member of the Fatah political party in Palestine who was trusted by both Hamas and the Israeli security agency Shin Bet, was told by Sinwar: "Convey a message to them that I am preparing the mother of all surprises. A terrifying operation. Something extraordinary."

The intermediary then conveyed the message to bin Zayed, who spoke directly to Netanyahu.

The Israeli prime minister, who is facing several opponents as he aims to hold onto power in Israel's upcoming elections, scheduled for October 27, reportedly told the UAE president that Israel was prepared for any attack and that the government believed Hamas was planning to operate in the West Bank.

He did not inform security or intelligence leaders about the information he received from the bin Zayed, Haaretz reported.

Netanyahu called the Haaretz report an "absolute lie" on Tuesday, while his top rival in the elections, former military commander Gadi Eisenkot, said on social media that the prime minister "received dozens of warnings for October 7 and ignored them all."

"His is unfit," said Eisenkot.

As Middle East Eye noted Tuesday, it has previously been reported by media outlets in Israel and elsewhere that Netanyahu had received a warning from Egyptian intelligence in the days before the Hamas-led attack.

Haaretz also reported that Hamas offered to release all the civilians it had taken captive during the October 7 attack, in the immediate aftermath of the attack. The group did not demand anything in return, but Israeli officials reportedly rejected the offer.

The Israel Defense Forces have bombed schools, hospitals, and refugee camps and have killed thousands of children as well as journalists and aid workers in Gaza—all while claiming to be targeting Hamas. Attacks have continued, killing hundreds of Palestinians, even after a ceasefire deal was reached last October.

Settler attacks have also ramped up in the West Bank as Israeli officials have pushed to further annex the territory and make the creation of a Palestinian state impossible.