After UAE, Egypt too warned Israel about October 7 attack: Report

Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The report, published on Sunday, said the call was the third warning Egypt conveyed to Israel in the months and days preceding the attack. Egyptian officials had previously raised concerns about the situation in Gaza in June and September 2023, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the newspaper. 

The intelligence chief’s call came in early October, just days before Hamas launched its unprecedented attack in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to figures by Israeli officials.

According to The Atlantic, the latest warning followed two earlier alerts from Egyptian officials, including one delivered in person by Kamel, who travelled to Israel in late September and met Israeli officials.

Israeli officials, however, told Kamel that the situation was under control, the report said. The exchange was followed by the warning conveyed to Netanyahu’s office in early October. Egypt continued to issue warnings in the days leading up to the October 7 attack, including as late as two days before it, according to the WSJ.

During the visit, Kamel warned that “the situation in Gaza was dire and could blow up in everyone’s faces,” according to the report, which cited officials from an unidentified Arab government.

The latest report comes amid renewed scrutiny of warnings received by Israel before the attack, following earlier reports that United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed had also warned Netanyahu about the possibility of a major Hamas operation. According to the WSJ, Mohamed bin Zayed spoke to Netanyahu in September 2023 and conveyed concerns about indications that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing an attack. The warnings from both Egypt and the UAE reportedly did not specify the exact timing or scale of the operation.

Netanyahu’s office did not respond to questions from the WSJ about Kamel’s reported call. The prime minister’s office has previously denied that Netanyahu had conversations with him in the months before the October 7 attack. The foreign ministries of Egypt and the UAE also did not respond to the media queries.