Key Points
Haaretz reports that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed called Netanyahu roughly ten days before October 7, 2023, warning him that Hamas's Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a major operation, but Netanyahu reportedly reassured him Israel could handle it and took no action.
The claims come from Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, based on dozens of sources including senior officials.
Netanyahu's office called the report false and said no warning was passed outside intelligence channels, while four opposition leaders jointly demanded a full investigation ahead of Israel's October 27 elections.
MILITANT GROUP HAMAS’S ATTACK ON THE GAZA STRIP on October 7, 2023, was one of the most consequential and tragic events that shaped the Middle East and global geopolitics. The attack eventually paved the way towards the full blown Israel-Hamas War and plunged the Gaza Strip into a humanitarian crisis, a conflict that is still in action. A new media report has given a previously hidden prospectus on the conflict, claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed about Hamas's October 7 attack beforehand. A media report by Haaretz, published on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, alleges that United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed phoned Netanyahu more than a week before Hamas's major offensive, alerting him about the same, but the Israeli PM did not act on the warning.
According to Haaretz, bin Zayed was in regular contact with senior Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The phone call between the UAE president and Israeli PM took place a week and a half before October 7, and followed the standard protocol: A representative from the Arab embassy came to the Israeli prime minister's bureau, bringing a special phone device to ensure the confidentiality of the call. The conversation between the two state leaders lasted for 45 minutes, wherein Zayed warned Netanyahu that Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was planning a major operation against Israel. The present expressed concern that the planned military action would cause bloodshed and destabilize the entire region.
See also: Even if Hamas Disarms, the Challenge in Gaza will be Accountability
The report also referred to a message that Sinwar sent to the UAE and Israel through a Palestinian mediator in mid-September 2023, warning them that an “earthquake” was approaching.
Instead of heeding the warning, Netanyahu downplayed the threat Hamas's attack posed and reassured Bin Zayen that Israel was more than capable of handling it. According to the report, the UAE president was surprised by Netanyahu’s “calm response” to the warning. Netahayhau also failed to pass this critical foreign intelligence warning to Israel's senior security apparatus—including the heads of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Shin Bet, or the national intelligence agency Mossad.
Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage during the October 7, 2023, attack. Hundreds of Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed in the conflicts that spilled over in Lebanon and Iran. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has devastated large parts of Gaza and killed more than 73,000 Palestinians.
The claims are detailed in the book Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment. Penned by Israeli investigative journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, the book is based on information from dozens of sources in Israel and other countries, including several senior officials.
This revelation emerged weeks ahead of the legislative elections in Israel, scheduled for October 27, 2026. It has prompted Israeli politicians to question Netanyahu’s judgment and ability to safeguard the safety of Israeli citizens. The Israeli PM has previously been heavily criticized for his handling of the Hamas October 7 attack.
The four opposition party leaders in Israel – Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman and Yair Golan – issued a rare joint statement calling for “an immediate and thorough investigation” into Netanyahu’s “failures and malfunctioning.” “The Israeli public is entitled to know: What did Netanyahu know, when did he know, why he didn’t update the security establishment, and why didn't he act to protect Israeli civilians?” the statement said.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday deemed the Haaretz media report as “false” and denied that any information about the Hamas attack was given to Netanyahu by the UAE. “The press reports are false. No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7th. If there was any relevant information , it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries,” the PMO’s statement on X read.
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
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