UAE Denies Warning Netanyahu on Hamas Attack Before October 7

An official in the United Arab Emirates has officially denied claims that the UAE warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about an impending Hamas attack in the weeks before the October 7, 2023 massacre. Responding to the Emirati newspaper The National, the official stated that while the UAE discusses security matters with other nations through relevant bodies, such sensitive details are not discussed at the level of heads of state. This clarification from Abu Dhabi aims to distance the UAE from Israeli domestic politics, emphasizing that any security discussions would have occurred through routine intelligence and security channels, not direct leader-to-leader conversations.

The UAE's response comes amid reports in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which alleged that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed had called Netanyahu ten days before the October 7th attack to warn him of a large-scale plot. Netanyahu vehemently denied this report. The Likud party issued a strong statement, accusing Palestinian official Mohammed Dahlan, who resides in the UAE, of being behind the Haaretz publication and calling it blatant foreign interference in Israeli elections.

In the wake of the controversy, Israeli intelligence officials clarified the nature of information conveyed in September 2023. A senior Israeli intelligence official indicated that it was not an operational warning. According to reports, the true purpose was to create a smokescreen: while Sinwar conveyed messages of de-escalation, his deputy was reportedly finalizing the date of the massacre with Iran. Information was allegedly passed from Yahya Sinwar to Sufian Abu Zaida, a senior Fatah official and Dahlan associate, and subsequently to Dahlan himself and Israel's Shin Bet security agency. Abu Zaida has reportedly maintained contact with senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad through a channel established by Prime Minister Netanyahu after the 2014 Gaza War.