Book says Egypt also warned of a major Hamas operation; days later Netanyahu held off on targeting Sinwar, who had threatened an 'earthquake,' and allegedly failed to brief security chiefs; PMO calls the UAE account 'a complete lie'ynet|Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received an explicit warning about a major operation being planned by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar shortly before the October 7 attack, according to a new book by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval. The account also alleges that Netanyahu received a separate warning from Egypt in the days before the massacre and later declined to authorize a renewed proposal to target senior Hamas leaders, including Sinwar.The book, Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment, says Sinwar warned that he was preparing a “big surprise” for Israel and twice used the Arabic word zilzal, meaning “earthquake.” The investigation follows an earlier report by Yedioth Ahronoth journalist Smadar Perry, published during the first days of the war, that Egypt had warned Netanyahu of “something unusual, a terrible operation” being prepared by Hamas.GalleryUAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: AP, Shalev Shalom)“The story starts earlier,” Eldar said Tuesday, discussing the investigation published by Haaretz. He said the episode began during indirect talks involving Israel, Hamas and Fatah over the return of the bodies of Israeli soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul and the release of Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, then held in Gaza. When the talks stalled in early September 2023, Eldar said, Sinwar disappeared completely and dropped off the Shin Bet’s radar.According to Eldar, Sinwar then contacted a Fatah figure and told him: “Pass on to the Israelis that I’m planning a big surprise for them if they don’t make progress.” Sinwar used the word “earthquake,” Eldar said. The Fatah figure, alarmed by the conversation, passed the message to an associate who now serves as an adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Sinwar later repeated the message: “Pass it on to the Israelis, I’m planning an ‘earthquake’ for them.”Eldar said then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar received the information on September 15 and passed it to Netanyahu. About a week and a half later, according to the investigation, bin Zayed sought to make sure Netanyahu had received the warning and called him through a special communications system developed by the UAE.“They have conversations through a unique system. A representative from the embassy arrives with the application, with a phone, and they hold a conversation that lasts 45 minutes,” Eldar said.During that conversation, the investigation claims, Netanyahu sought to reassure the UAE president, telling him: “We are prepared in Gaza.” Netanyahu reportedly assessed that if trouble erupted, it was more likely to occur in the West Bank. The book says Netanyahu did not subsequently brief then-IDF chief Herzi Halevi, Bar or then-Mossad chief David Barnea about the alleged call.A similar warning reached the Prime Minister’s Office from then-Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Abbas Kamel, according to Perry’s earlier report. Kamel reportedly warned Netanyahu of “something unusual, a terrible operation” being prepared by Hamas. Perry said Netanyahu responded: “In Gaza, we are on top of things, we are in control. Our problem is the West Bank, and that is where we are also moving forces.”“People in the security establishment said, both in the Shin Bet and the IDF, that if we had known about that conversation, we would essentially have received another assessment reinforcing the information that had already arrived on September 15,” Eldar said. He added: “We have documentation. We are fully backed up on this story. We would not have published it without recordings, documentation and cross-checking.”Herzi Halevi, Ronen Bar and David Barnea (Photos: GPO, Ariel Hermoni, IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Yariv Katz, Moti Kimchi)The investigation also says that on October 1, during a discussion about unrest along the Gaza border and indications that Hamas was seeking to carry out an attack in the West Bank, Bar again recommended targeting senior Hamas leaders, including Sinwar, who he said was “showing signs of arrogance.”As on previous occasions when such a proposal was raised, Netanyahu replied: “Prepare plans for me and I’ll consider them,” according to the investigation.“He never said ‘no,’” one senior security official said. “That was always his way of postponing dealing with the problem.” Another official who attended the meeting recalled Netanyahu concluding: “Keep working on the capability, but for now calm the situation.”According to the investigation, Netanyahu did not mention during the meeting the warnings that had allegedly reached him from the UAE or Egypt.“If we had known about the warnings, there is a chance it would have given much greater weight to the first message we received from Sinwar,” a senior Shin Bet official said. “Maybe it would also have clarified what was behind his sudden withdrawal from the talks in early September. We might have put one and one together and reached a completely different conclusion, one that could have changed our entire assessment.”Netanyahu’s office categorically denied the investigation. “A complete lie. Prime Minister Netanyahu did not speak with the president of the United Arab Emirates during the period in question and received no warning from him,” it said.Bar and Halevi also said they had not been informed of any warning conveyed by the UAE president.Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who recently met bin Zayed, said the report was true. “The report that Netanyahu was warned 10 days before the October 7 massacre about Sinwar’s intentions is true,” Bennett said. He accused Netanyahu of bearing “personal and direct responsibility” for the failure and said his disregard of warnings amounted to “criminal negligence.”Gadi Eisenkot, former IDF chief of staff and chairman of the Yashar party, said the report added to evidence that Netanyahu had failed to recognize repeated warning signs ahead of October 7.Yahya Sinwar (Photo: Adel Hana, AP)“More and more signs indicate that Netanyahu led Israel blindly into the October 7 failure,” Eisenkot said. “Netanyahu received dozens of warnings ahead of October 7 and ignored them all. He is unfit.”The October Council, a group representing families and activists seeking accountability over the October 7 failures, said the focus should extend beyond whether Netanyahu was awakened on the night of the attack.“Anyone arguing over whether Netanyahu was woken up on the night of October 7 is ignoring the much bigger question: How many times did people try to wake Israel up before the massacre?” the group said.It called for answers on who received the warnings, what reached the prime minister, what he did with the information and what was or was not passed on to the security establishment.“Why, despite all the warning signs published since then, did the State of Israel arrive at the morning of October 7 blind and unprepared?” the council said.