The Atlantic: Abbas Kamel, head of the Egyptian intelligence service, warned Netanyahu about the attack Hamas was preparing

Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel allegedly made a secret 67-minute stopover in Tel Aviv on September 26, 2023, to warn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Hamas was preparing a major attack, according to an investigation published by the American magazine The Atlantic and cited by RFI.

According to the investigation, Kamel allegedly told Netanyahu that there was a limited window to prevent a catastrophe. The revelation puts renewed focus on the information received by Israeli authorities before the attack launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023, when the group’s fighters entered southern Israel, killed approximately 1,200 people and took hundreds of hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The Atlantic investigation examines the warnings delivered before the attack, how they were assessed by Israeli officials and the possible reasons why they did not lead to sufficient security measures. The account of Abbas Kamel’s visit adds an important element to the timeline, indicating that the Egyptian warning was allegedly delivered less than two weeks before the Hamas offensive.

The information comes from a journalistic investigation and is not presented here as having been officially confirmed by all the parties involved.