UAE warned Netanyahu of major Hamas operation days before Oct. 7 attack, news report says

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was directly warned by the president of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a major offensive just days before the militant group attacked on October 7, 2023, according to an Israeli newspaper report.

UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed spoke with Netanyahu 10 days before the attack and said Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza at the time, was planning an operation, the Haaretz daily said.

Bin Zayed said it would lead to bloodshed and could destabilise the region and undermine the Abraham Accords, the normalisation agreements between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, the newspaper reported.

But Netanyahu “reacted with relative calm,” according to Haaretz, which said he assured bin Zayed that Israel was prepared for any scenario and a possible attack was more likely to come from the occupied West Bank.

Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people and took another 251 hostage in the October 7 attack. Hundreds of Israelis, mostly soldiers, have been killed in continued fighting from wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

Haaretz reported Netanyahu's office called the report an “absolute lie” and said Netanyahu 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 surrounding the October 7 attack. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

The UAE's Foreign Ministry also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israel is holding national elections next month and Netanyahu's actions around the time of the October 7 attack are a key issue in the campaign.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former top general who is seen as Netanyahu's main opponent in election, accused the prime minister of ignoring dozens of warnings ahead of the attack.

“He is unfit,” Eisenkot wrote on social media.