UAE Leader Warned Netanyahu Before October 7

By Staff, Agencies

"Israeli" opposition leaders on Tuesday called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfit to serve after a report said UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan warned him about a planned Hamas operation, days before October 7, 2023.

According to "Haaretz", in an excerpt from a forthcoming book by its reporters, bin Zayed spoke with Netanyahu around a week and a half before the attack and warned that Hamas was preparing a major operation. Netanyahu's office dismissed the report as an "absolute lie" and denied that he spoke with the Emirati leader at the time.

Meanwhile, Gadi Eisenkot, a former military commander and Netanyahu's leading rival in the October 27 elections, accused the prime minister of evading responsibility for security failures and making "pathetic" excuses, including claiming he was not awakened early enough on the morning of the attack.

"Netanyahu received dozens of warnings for October 7 and ignored them all. He is unfit," Eisenkot wrote on X.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, also running in the elections, said Netanyahu "bears personal and direct responsibility" for the lives lost on October 7, the deadliest attack in "Israeli" history.

"Netanyahu cannot continue to serve in his position for even one more minute," Bennett said.

The report also said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, later martyred by the occupation entity, had warned a former Palestinian official that Hamas was preparing a "terrifying operation," describing it as an "earthquake."

The official reportedly relayed Sinwar's warning to an Emirati adviser, who passed it to bin Zayed, prompting the UAE leader to contact Netanyahu.

The UAE normalised ties with the occupation entity in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords during Donald Trump's first administration. Netanyahu has portrayed close relations with the UAE as a major achievement.

Haaretz, citing mostly anonymous sources, said Netanyahu responded calmly to the warning.

For years, Netanyahu had sought to preserve the status quo with Hamas, which received funding through Qatar under an understanding that the group was more interested in self-preservation than a devastating war with the occupation entity.

On October 7, Hamas fighters entered "Israel" in an operation that included an attack on a music festival. An AFP tally based on official "Israeli" figures says 1,221 people were killed, while around 251 captives were taken to Gaza, 44 of whom were reportedly killed.

The occupation entity subsequently launched a massive offensive that has left much of Gaza in ruins. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 73,658 people have lost their lives, with the United Nations considering the ministry's figures reliable.