On September 26, 2023, just 11 days before the October 7th massacre, a private aircraft linked to Egypt’s intelligence services landed at Ben Gurion Airport. On board was Abbas Kamel, then head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service and a close adviser to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. According to an investigation published by The Atlantic, Kamel spent just 67 minutes in Israel before the aircraft returned to Cairo. Israeli Airports Authority flight records and independent flight-tracking data reportedly confirm the aircraft’s brief stay.
The investigation, based on Israeli, Egyptian, Arab, American and European officials who were briefed on the visit after the October 7th massacre, said Kamel came to deliver an urgent warning about Hamas’s preparations for a major attack.
According to officials cited by The Atlantic, Kamel warned that Gaza was approaching a dangerous escalation and that the opportunity to prevent a disaster was rapidly closing. One former Israeli official summarized the message as: “If you don’t change course, Gaza is going to explode in your face."
The warning reportedly did not contain a specific date for an attack, details of the planned operation or information about its intended targets. Instead, Kamel urged Israel to consider economic measures toward Hamas and Gaza in an effort to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
The significance of the visit, according to officials cited in the investigation, was also its messenger. One Egyptian source reportedly said that Kamel’s decision to travel to Israel personally reflected Sisi’s view that the warning was serious enough to require a direct intervention.
However, the account is disputed. Tzachi Hanegbi, who was serving as Israel’s national security adviser at the time, told The Atlantic that Kamel did not visit Israel on September 26 and that Egypt did not deliver such a warning. Netanyahu’s office has also previously denied that Kamel personally warned the prime minister.
According to the investigation, Egyptian warnings continued after Kamel’s reported visit. Israeli, Egyptian and American officials cited by The Atlantic said Egypt continued passing messages to Israel about the deteriorating situation until as late as two days before the massacre. The warnings, according to the report, still did not provide a precise date or operational details.
The timing of Kamel’s reported arrival has also drawn attention. September 26, 2023, marked the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, the surprise Egyptian-Syrian attack that became one of the defining examples of intelligence failure in Israel’s history.
Just hours after the reported Egyptian intelligence visit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a Knesset ceremony marking the anniversary. In remarks focused on the lessons of the 1973 war, Netanyahu warned against underestimating threats and said Israel did not dismiss warnings.
The new report adds to earlier accounts concerning warnings Israel allegedly received from other Arab states. In September 2026, reports based on an investigation by Haaretz said that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed had warned Netanyahu in a phone call approximately 10 days before the attack that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation. Netanyahu’s office has denied that such a warning was personally delivered to him. The New York Times reported that it could not independently confirm the Haaretz account.
According to the New York Times report, Netanyahu subsequently held a security discussion on October 1, six days before the attack, but did not tell security officials about the alleged warning from bin Zayed. The report said Netanyahu emphasized the need to preserve calm in Gaza. Netanyahu’s office has disputed the underlying account.
The Egyptian warnings themselves are not new. In the days following the massacre, reports emerged that Egyptian officials had repeatedly warned Israel that Hamas was preparing “something big." At the time, however, Israeli officials rejected claims that Egypt had provided a specific warning about the impending attack.
The political debate over the warnings has already intensified. Likud accused opposition-linked journalists of using the reports to attack Netanyahu and rejected the allegations concerning the UAE warning, while opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot argued that the accumulating reports demonstrated failures in the handling of pre-October 7 warnings and called for an official commission of inquiry.
The Prime Minister's Office stated: "This allegation is false. It was denied at the time and is being recycled to manipulate the Israeli public. On October 11, 2023, Egypt officially denied that it had warned Israel of the October 7 attack. In the months preceding October 7, Prime Minister Netanyahu neither met nor spoke with Abbas Kamel, then head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service. No Israeli intelligence official conveyed such a warning to the Prime Minister. Recycled lies will not become true, no matter how often they are repeated."