UAE Official Confirms Warning to Israel Before Oct. 7 Hamas Attack

A source close to the UAE government has confirmed to N12 News that the United Arab Emirates issued a warning to Israel prior to the October 7th Hamas attacks. The source stated they heard about the warning in the initial days following the outbreak of war. This marks the first confirmation from a Gulf state regarding direct channels of warning that were active with Jerusalem before the massacre.

The source criticized Israeli leadership, suggesting some "leaders are willing to gamble with your lives for half an hour in power." They also interpreted the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs' official statement from the previous day, which avoided a direct denial, as an indirect confirmation. The UAE statement noted that government bodies in the UAE and Israel have maintained open communication lines since relations began over five years ago, and relevant intelligence is shared as needed.

However, the UAE source did not provide specifics about the content of the warning, how it was delivered, or to whom in Israel it was conveyed. It remains unclear if this warning is the same one reported by Haaretz, which alleged that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's plans for a major operation that could ignite the region. According to that report, Netanyahu believed the threat pertained to the West Bank and did not update security chiefs.

Another source familiar with UAE decision-making processes corroborated the N12 report, suggesting that the carefully worded UAE official statement, which took hours to craft, implicitly confirmed the warning. This comes amid reports that the Shin Bet also received a parallel warning in mid-September regarding Sinwar's intentions, which was initially interpreted as relating to the potential capture of Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has vehemently denied the Haaretz report, calling it a "false fabrication" and stating that no such conversation with the UAE president took place. His office provided evidence from call logs and security records to support the denial, asserting that policy discussions with the UAE president occur only at the Prime Minister's office via a specially equipped envoy, none of whom entered the premises during the relevant period.