An anonymous intelligence official from Egypt says Israel ignored warnings of a potentially significant development.
Over 1,000 people have died as a result of escalating clashes between Hamas and Israeli forces.
“We have warned them an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it would be big,” the unnamed official told the Associated Press. The official said Israeli officials were focused on the West Bank, where many of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s supporters live, and not Gaza.
“We have warned them an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it would be big. But they underestimated such warnings,” said the official.
BREAKING — Egyptian Intelligence Minister called Netanyahu ten days before Hamas attack and warned him of "something unusual, a terrible operation" that was about to take place from Gaza.
Egyptians were "surprised by the indifference shown by Netanyahu".
— Yedioth Ahranoth pic.twitter.com/7AcIkSmKnB
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) October 9, 2023
Egypt often mediates between the Israeli and Palestinian governments.
The claim has been categorized as “totally fake news” by Israel.
“The report to the effect that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a message in advance from Egypt is absolutely false,” the prime minister’s office wrote in a post on X. “No message in advance has arrived from Egypt and the Prime Minister has neither spoken, nor met, with the head of Egyptian intelligence since the formation of the government, neither directly nor indirectly.”
At least 800 people have died and another 2,000 are wounded as a result of the attacks launched by Hamas over the weekend, per The New York Post. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza, where the Palestinian Health Ministry reports at least 400 fatalities.
“For Palestinians in Gaza, Israel’s eyes are never very far away. Surveillance drones buzz constantly in the skies. The highly secured border is awash with security cameras and soldiers on guard. Intelligence agencies work sources and cyber capabilities to draw out information,” reports The Times of Israel. “But Israel’s eyes appeared to have been closed in the lead-up to the surprise onslaught by the Hamas terror group, which broke through Israeli border barriers and sent hundreds of terrorists into Israel to carry out a brazen attack.”
The conflict and each nation’s response have sparked skepticism online as well as concern about the potential expansion of regional involvement.
“It is inconceivable that the IDF had NO ready forces positioned in the South or the North to deal with potential violence on the anniversary of 1973,” said Douglas Macgregor, a retired Army colonel and military analyst. “At the same time, the Arabs did what they never do. They shut up.”
In a post on X on Oct. 9, Macgregor continued:
For Israel, however, this is deadly serious. If Hezbollah sits this out, the IDF will systematically crush Gaza. However, serious attacks from Southern Lebanon will stretch the IDF ground force to the limit.
It may be that anger and disgust across the Muslim World with the destruction of Gaza and its people eventually provokes a larger war that could involve Iran, even Turkey.
Egypt will be unable to sit it out. Jordan may fall apart under the pressure of internal unrest. In short, the world could change dramatically.
