Key facts
- Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel warned Israeli officials days before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
Egypt's intelligence chief warned senior Israeli officials days before the October 7 Hamas attack that Gaza was going to "blow up in your faces," The Atlantic reported. The warning, reportedly delivered by Abbas Kamel to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was dismissed by Israeli officials, according to the report.
The reports suggest that Israeli leadership may have disregarded multiple warnings about an impending Hamas attack, raising questions about intelligence failures leading up to the October 7th events and Israel's subsequent military response in Gaza.
Egypt's intelligence chief warned senior Israeli officials days before the October 7 Hamas attack that Gaza was going to "blow up in your faces," The Atlantic reported. The warning, reportedly delivered by Abbas Kamel to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was dismissed by Israeli officials, according to the report.
An Egyptian intelligence official told the Associated Press that Israel ignored repeated warnings that Hamas was planning "something big." The Ynet news site reported that Kamel personally warned Netanyahu 10 days before the attack. However, Kamel did not provide Israeli officials with a specific date or details of the attack, and it remains unclear exactly with whom he met, The Atlantic reported.
Separately, Haaretz reported that the president of the United Arab Emirates had warned Israel's prime minister weeks before the October 7 attacks that Hamas was planning a major operation. The Israeli premier dismissed this warning and did not inform Israel's security or military leaders, according to the report. A Gaza-born adviser to the UAE ruler, present during a 45-minute phone call, stated that the emir assessed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing for a major event.
Pick the topics you care about. Get only what matters, on your cadence.