UAE warned Netanyahu of Hamas attack days before Oct. 7: report

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UAE warned Netanyahu of Hamas attack days before October 7: Haaretz report

Editorial Team

September 8, 2026

UAE warned Netanyahu of Hamas attack days before October 7 — Composite image showing United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyanu MBZ, right, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, May 2026. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office/Israel PM’s Press Office/via DubaiDiplomacy.com

Netanyahu’s Office Calls Report “Absolute Lie”

DUBAI,— Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, came under fire from opposition leaders Tuesday following a Haaretz newspaper report that the UAE president had cautioned him about a planned Hamas attack days before October 7, 2023.

The Haaretz report, drawn from an upcoming book by its journalists, revealed that UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan MBZ contacted Netanyahu roughly ten days prior to the assault.

The Emirati leader allegedly informed Netanyahu that Hamas was preparing a major offensive operation.

According to the newspaper report, Netanyahu failed to notify security chiefs about this warning.

Netanyahu’s office flatly rejected the claim, calling it “an absolute lie” and saying he never spoke with bin Zayed at that time.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former military commander now challenging Netanyahu in the October 27, 2026 elections, attacked the prime minister’s credibility.

Eisenkot stated Netanyahu received numerous warnings before October 7 and ignored them all.

He accused Netanyahu of shirking responsibility for security failures and making excuses, such as claiming he was not awakened quickly enough on the morning of the attack. Eisenkot specifically described these excuses as pathetic.

“Netanyahu is unfit,” Eisenkot posted on X.

Naftali Bennett, another former prime minister running in elections, argued Netanyahu carries personal responsibility for the October 7 deaths, the deadliest attack in Israeli history.

“Netanyahu cannot remain in office,” Bennett declared.

According to Haaretz, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who Israel later killed, told a Gaza Arab official that the militants were preparing what he called a terrifying operation and an earthquake.

That Gaza Arab official passed the message to an Emirati advisor, who shared it with the UAE president, who then contacted Netanyahu.

The newspaper reported, citing mostly unnamed sources, that Netanyahu responded calmly to this warning.

Netanyahu had long supported keeping the status quo with Hamas.

Hamas, an Islamic extremist Arab group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, other Western countries.

The Gaza militant group received funding through Qatar under an arrangement where both sides apparently understood Hamas prioritized self-preservation over full-scale conflict with Israel.

On October 7, Hamas militants stormed across the border into Israel in a rampage featuring mass civilian killings at a music festival and in surrounding areas.

The attack killed 1,221 people, mostly civilians including children, according to official Israeli numbers.

The militants also took approximately 251 hostages into Gaza, with 44 already dead at the time of the initial tally.

Israel’s massive response operation has devastated Gaza and killed thousands, predominantly Hamas militants.

The UAE normalized relations with Israel in 2020 through the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered by the United States under President Donald Trump’s first administration.

Netanyahu has considered his ties with the UAE a significant foreign policy success and achievement.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday that it declines to comment on the report, saying it does not address media coverage of conversations between government officials.

(With files from AFP, France24, UAE’s MOFA, Agencies)