Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel flew to Israel on September 26, 2023, carrying an urgent warning that Gaza was nearing a dangerous escalation just 11 days before the Hamas-led October 7 attack. According to officials briefed on the visit, Kamel urged Israeli leadership to make economic concessions to Hamas to avert a major conflict, though he did not provide a specific date or operational target for the assault.
The Yom Kippur War Anniversary Visit
The high-level intelligence visit coincided with Israel’s official commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War in Jerusalem. Roughly two hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech reflecting on the intelligence failures that preceded the 1973 surprise attack, a chartered Cessna linked to Egyptian intelligence landed at Ben Gurion Airport and taxied to an isolated diplomatic zone, as cited in flight records.
Kamel’s mission focused on mounting evidence that Hamas was mobilizing for a major offensive. A former Israeli official briefed on the discussions summarized Kamel’s warning bluntly, stating that the Egyptian chief cautioned, “If you don’t change course, Gaza is going to blow up in your faces.” Flight records show the aircraft remained on the tarmac for 67 minutes before returning to Cairo.
Disputed Warnings and Official Denials
Nearly three years after the outbreak of the war, the exact handling of Kamel’s warning within the Israeli government remains unresolved. Officials from seven countries stated that a direct dispatch from Egypt’s intelligence chief should have triggered immediate high-level security responses. Netanyahu’s public schedule confirmed he attended a classified briefing following the Yom Kippur War commemoration, and economic concessions to Hamas were approved shortly after.
Despite these accounts, Netanyahu’s office rejected claims that the prime minister received warnings from Egypt ahead of October 7, mirroring denials issued immediately after the attacks. Tzachi Hanegbi, who led the National Security Council at the time, also denied that Kamel made such a visit or that Cairo issued any warnings.
Broader Regional Signals Prior to October 7
Kamel’s mission formed part of a wider pattern of regional and international warnings delivered to Israel regarding growing instability in Gaza. United Nations envoys privately and publicly warned that renewed conflict would carry severe consequences, while United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed also contacted Netanyahu after receiving intelligence assessments from Egyptian and Palestinian sources.
Reporting from Haaretz indicated that bin Zayed explicitly warned Netanyahu of an imminent Hamas attack, a claim Netanyahu denied while threatening legal action against the newspaper. A former senior U.S. official involved in regional talks noted that Israeli leadership largely believed Hamas had been successfully deterred, maintaining a stronger operational focus on security priorities in the West Bank.
On October 7, Hamas and affiliated groups launched coordinated attacks across southern Israel, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths—predominantly civilians—and the abduction of 251 hostages to Gaza. Israel’s subsequent military campaign in the territory has resulted in the deaths of more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, alongside thousands of combatant casualties, making the intelligence failures preceding the offensive a focal point in domestic Israeli politics.