UAE president warned Netanyahu of Hamas operation before October 7: Haaretz

Jerusalem,UPDATED: Sep 8, 2026 18:42 IST

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned directly by United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed that Hamas was planning a major operation days before the October 7, 2023 attack, according to an Israeli newspaper report. The Haaretz daily said bin Zayed told Netanyahu that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza at the time, was planning an operation that could lead to bloodshed, destabilise the region and undermine the Abraham Accords, the normalisation agreements between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations.

Haaretz reported that the conversation took place 10 days before the attack. According to the newspaper, Netanyahu "reacted with relative calm" and told bin Zayed that Israel was prepared for any scenario, adding that a possible attack was more likely to come from the occupied West Bank.

Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in the October 7 attack. Hundreds of Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed in continued fighting linked to the wars involving Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Haaretz said Netanyahu's office called the report an "absolute lie" and said he did not speak with the UAE president "during the period in question and received no warning from him".

Netanyahu has rejected calls for an official government inquiry into the events around the October 7 attack. His office did not respond to a request for comment, while the UAE's Foreign Ministry also did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Israel is due to hold national elections next month, and Netanyahu's actions in the run-up to the attack have become a major campaign issue.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former top general seen as Netanyahu's main opponent in the election, accused the prime minister of ignoring dozens of warnings before the attack. "He is unfit," Eisenkot wrote on social media. Another rival, Naftali Bennett, said, "Netanyahu bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch." Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,650 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The report and the political response have brought renewed focus on what Netanyahu knew before the October 7 attack and how he responded.

With PTI Inputs

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