UAE Warned Netanyahu Of Hamas Plans Days Before October 2023 Attack: Report

During a 45-minute call, the Emirati ruler reportedly asked Netanyahu to take the threat seriously, expressing concern that any such attack could not only lead to bloodshed but also destabilise the entire region and undermine the Abraham Accords.

08 Sep 2026, 07:24 · NDTV

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UAE's Mohammed bin Zayed warned Netanyahu of a major Hamas attack weeks before October 7
Netanyahu did not inform top Israeli security officials about the UAE warning
Egyptian intelligence also warned Netanyahu of an impending Hamas operation

What evidence supports the claim that Netanyahu received these specific warnings?
Tel Aviv:

Days before the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Mohammed bin Zayed directly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza was planning something major -- a 'Zilzal', or an earthquake-- against the Jewish state, according to an investigation by Israeli publication Haaretz.

Citing sources, both in the UAE and Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency, the report claimed that Netanyahu did not act in a timely manner on the information and failed to disclose his 45-minute direct phone call with the UAE leader even to his most senior security officials.

An Early Warning

According to the Haaretz report, bin Zayed's warning to Netanyahu came about a week and a half before the massacre, in which he conveyed that "something there is about to explode". During a 45-minute call, the Emirati ruler reportedly asked Netanyahu to take the threat seriously, expressing concern that any such attack could not only lead to bloodshed but also destabilise the entire region and undermine the Abraham Accords.

Also present during the call was a Palestinian adviser to bin Zayed, who told the Israeli publication that, to everyone's surprise, Netanyahu reacted with relative calm to the warning. He told the Emirati leader that, in his assessment, Hamas intended to operate in the West Bank area, and he reassured bin Zayed that Israel was prepared for any scenario.

The Emirati ruler reportedly later recounted his conversation with Netanyahu to CIA Director William J Burns. "The emir hoped that despite his reserved response, Netanyahu would take the message seriously and take action," the adviser said.

However, the Israeli leader repeatedly briefed none of the heads of the defence establishment, including Shin Bet, Mossad, and the Israel Defence Forces chief of staff, about bin Zayed's warning.

How the Threat Originated

The investigation found that in early 2023, Israel's Shin Bet and Hamas established a secret direct channel of talks and almost agreed to a historic prisoner exchange deal. However, the deal was delayed on Tel Aviv's end pending a ministerial committee's permission to release the prisoners.

The report said that Netanyahu repeatedly postponed convening the committee, perhaps "out of fear of reaching an agreement with Hamas, or perhaps out of fear of the reaction from his extremist partners in his new government."

Shin Bet representatives, who managed the channel with Hamas, told the publication that Netanyahu used to say he feared the story leaking to the media. "And so it got stuck week after week," the source said.

At the same time, Israel was also dealing with internal rebellion. In September 2023, Sinwar, who was tired of waiting, warned through the intermediary that he was preparing a "zilzal," or earthquake, and later described what he was planning as "the mother of all surprises" and "a terrifying operation."

At the same time, the direct channel established between Shin Bet and Hamas was severed. This channel, incidentally, would resume full activity a year after the October 7 massacre, in September 2024, when an urgent need emerged to extract the stalled hostage deal from the mire, the report said.

Sinwar's message ultimately reached Shin Bet on September 15. Following this, then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar briefed Netanyahu about the warning.

Two days later, senior defence officials held a security meeting where Bar reportedly warned that Israel was "on a collision course" and recommended either a powerful offensive step or stronger defensive measures in Gaza and the West Bank ahead of the Jewish holidays, but no decisions were made at the end of the discussion.

It was only after the UAE leadership concluded that Israel had not adequately responded to the information that bin Zayed decided to contact Netanyahu directly, according to the report.

The report said later Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel laos got the intel and contacted Netanyahu to warn of "something unusual, a terrifying operation" being planned by Hamas. Netanyahu reportedly told him that Israel was in control of the situation in Gaza and was concentrating its attention and troop deployments on the West Bank.

Netanyahu did not mention either of the warning calls during a subsiquest security meeting on October 1, the report said.

A senior Shin Bet official quoted in the investigation said knowledge of such high-profile warnings could potentially have changed how security officials interpreted Sinwar's earlier statements and withdrawal from negotiations.

At 6:29 am on October 7, 2023, the promised "zilzal" arrived. By noon, social media across the world was flooded with horrific footage of the massacre --live-streamed killings and destruction. Hamas abducted approximately 251 people -- including civilians, soldiers, and foreign nationals -- during their cross-border attack.

Netanyahu Denies Charges

The Israeli prime minister's office called the investigation an "absolute lie."

"Prime Minister Netanyahu didn't speak to the president of the UAE during the period in question and received no warning from him," the Prime Minister's Office said in response to Haaretz.

The Emirati leader did not respond to a request for comment from Haaretz.

Anger in Israel

The report has sparked anger in Israel, with former prime minister and head of B'Yachad Naftali Bennett accusing Netanyahu of leading Israel "blindly straight into this terrible disaster."

"Mohammed bin Zayed of the Emirates warned Netanyahu that Sinwar was planning an operation. Abbas Kamel, the head of Egyptian General Intelligence, also warned Netanyahu days before the massacre that a major operation was being planned," Bennett said while talking to the Jerusalem Post.

'I don't want to talk about my relationship with anyone. I'm telling you that I know this fact is true."

"Netanyahu led us blindly straight into this terrible disaster. He was so deeply immersed in his conception that Hamas was an asset, and despite receiving explicit warnings, he did nothing," the former prime minister claimed.

"Netanyahu bears direct responsibility for this disaster, not only ministerial responsibility by virtue of being prime minister, but direct responsibility because he built up Hamas for 15 years and did nothing."

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