Toggle Daily
Israeli newspaper investigation places an Emirati
September 9, 2026
An Israeli newspaper investigation says the UAE president warned Netanyahu of a major Hamas operation ten days before the October 7, 2023 attack, and he rejects the account.
Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel's prime minister and was in office during the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, in which over 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 abducted to Gaza.
Key facts
- An Israeli newspaper reports that the United Arab Emirates president told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, only days before the militant group's October 7, 2023 attack, that Hamas was preparing a large offensive.
- The Democrats party escalated its campaign messaging against Netanyahu within hours, putting up an enormous billboard above the main highway in Tel Aviv under the headline: "The 1,200 murdered file – Causing death by negligence."
- The report says MBZ used a 45-minute call, placed ten days ahead of the massacre, to tell Netanyahu that Yahya Sinwar, then leading Hamas, was preparing a large operation aimed at Israel.
- Tuesday's publication of the allegations in Haaretz adds to the strain on the Israeli prime minister, who was already under sharp criticism over how he handled the run-up to the 7 October attacks.
- Calls for an official government inquiry into what happened around the October 7 attack have been turned down by Netanyahu.
AP News reports that the president of the United Arab Emirates warned Benjamin Netanyahu directly that Hamas was preparing a major offensive in the days before the attack of Oct. 7, 2023, an account carried from an Israeli newspaper investigation published Tuesday. AP News also reports that bin Zayed framed the coming operation as a course that would end in bloodshed, unsettle the region and weaken the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements Israel signed with several Arab and Muslim-majority countries. CBC reports the same direct warning and attributes it to that Israeli newspaper. The Guardian reports that the call was placed from the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi a week and a half before Oct. 7, ran 45 minutes, and turned on then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The Jerusalem Post reports the same 45-minute conversation 10 days before the attack and carries Netanyahu's answer, that he believed Hamas meant to act in the West Bank and that Israel was prepared for any scenario, which AP News and CNN also carry.
The Jerusalem Post reports that a close adviser to bin Zayed traced the warning to contacts involving a Palestinian intermediary with ties to both Hamas and Israeli security officials, and AP News, The Guardian and CBC carry that detail. AP News and CNN report that the Emirati Foreign Ministry would not discuss speculation about conversations between government leaders. CBC reports the ministry's post on X, which said any relevant information moved through intelligence channels between the two countries. Netanyahu denies the account. CNN reports that Eldar, one of the journalists behind the investigation, has answered that publicly, and The New York Times carries the warning alongside Netanyahu's own response to it.
AP News reports that Gadi Eisenkot, a former top general and Netanyahu's main opponent in the election, says the prime minister ignored dozens of warnings before the attack, and The Guardian, CBC and The New York Times carry the same charge. CNN reports Yair Lapid's statement that the attack would have been prevented had Netanyahu done his job, and The Guardian reports Yair Golan of the Democrats party accusing him of "endangering Israel". CNN also reports the billboard the Democrats raised over Tel Aviv's main highway, which puts the 1,200 killed under a charge of negligence. Where the accounts split is the place of next month's Israeli election in this record. One account puts the campaign at the front, reading the warning as fuel in a fight over accountability for Oct. 7. Another stays with the contents of the investigation and the answers to it. Settled across AP News, CBC, CNN, The Guardian and The Jerusalem Post are the call, its timing shortly before the attack, what bin Zayed warned of, and Netanyahu's refusal of a state commission of inquiry, which The Guardian reports his government has turned down. Unsettled is where next month's election belongs in the account.
The Foreign Ministry of the UAE added that it had nothing to say about "speculation regarding conversations between government leaders."
Still developing
The open question is next month's Israeli election, where its place in the run of events moves between the accounts.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- AP News — UAE warned Netanyahu of major Hamas operation days before Oct. 7 attack, news report says
- CBC — U.A.E. warned Netanyahu of major Hamas operation days before Oct. 7 attack: Israeli newspaper - CBC
- CNN — Netanyahu faces backlash over report he was warned of Hamas attack days before October 7
- The Guardian — Netanyahu was warned of 7 October Hamas attacks, book claims
- The Jerusalem Post — UAE warned Benjamin Netanyahu over major Hamas attack days before October 7 - The Jerusalem Post