Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel secretly visited Israel 11 days before the October 7 attack and warned that Hamas was preparing for a major attack and that time to prevent further escalation was running out, according to an investigation by The Atlantic revealed on Saturday.
The investigation found that on September 26, 2023, as senior Israeli officials gathered in Jerusalem to mark the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a chartered Cessna plane linked to Egyptian intelligence landed at Ben Gurion Airport.
The plane stopped in a secluded area of the airport used, according to the report, for sensitive diplomatic and security missions.
On board was Kamel, who at the time was head of Egypt’s general intelligence services and was one of the closest figures to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The plane reportedly only stayed in Israel for 67 minutes before returning to Cairo, with The Atlantic claiming that the timing appears in Israel Airports Authority flight logs and is also documented by independent flight tracking services.
Israeli, Arab, American and European officials briefed on the visit after October 7 said Kamel warned that Hamas appeared to be preparing for a major attack, the report said, adding that he urged Israel to take economic measures to reduce tensions in the Gaza Strip.
A former Israeli official briefed on the meeting described the Egyptian message this way: “If you don’t change course, Gaza will blow up in your face. »
The warning did not include a specific plan of attack
The investigation found that Kamel did not provide a date for a possible attack, identify targets or share concrete details about the nature of the threat. It is unclear who he met during his hour-long visit to Israel.
At the time, most warnings focused on the possibility of escalation, rocket fire or renewed violence in Gaza, rather than the coordinated, multi-pronged attack by Hamas on October 7.
Despite this, officials from seven countries who spoke with The Atlantic argued that the fact that the Egyptian intelligence chief personally traveled to Israel for such a short and urgent visit should have attracted the attention of Israeli political and security leaders.
“The messenger was the message,” a former Israeli official said, adding that there was no scenario in which senior Israeli officials would meet with Egypt’s intelligence chief without Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knowing.
An Egyptian official said The Atlantic that Kamel’s brief visit to Israel indicated that Sissi believed he needed to travel personally to deliver the message.
Egyptian warnings continued until days before the attack.
Several days after the October 7 attack, the prime minister’s office rejected reports that Egypt had issued a warning before the attack.
He said Netanyahu “has not spoken or met with the head of Egyptian intelligence since the establishment of the government, either directly or indirectly.”
The Atlantic said Netanyahu and Sisi’s offices did not respond to requests for the newly revealed details of Kamel’s visit.
Tzachi Hanegbi, who was then head of the National Security Council, told the magazine last week that Kamel had not visited Israel and that no Egyptian warning had been issued.
Israeli, Egyptian and U.S. officials said Egyptian warnings continued until two days before the attack.
On October 5, Egypt sent another message to Israel warning that the situation could not continue and expressing urgency over the possibility of an attack. This message also did not include a date or method of operation.
The investigation revealed that on the same day Kamel landed in Israel, Netanyahu attended a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.
In his speech, he referred to the intelligence failure of 1973 and said Israel did not take any threat lightly. His public schedule showed that he then attended a classified briefing that day.
PMO rejects allegations, says ‘recycled’ report used to ‘manipulate’ Israelis
Later on Saturday, the Prime Minister’s Office rejected the allegations, saying the report published in The Atlantic “was denied at the time and is being recycled to manipulate the Israeli public.”
“On October 11, 2023, Egypt officially denied warning Israel of the October 7 attack,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. “In the months leading up to October 7, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not meet or speak with Abbas Kamel, then head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service. No Israeli intelligence official conveyed such a warning to the Prime Minister.”
“Recycled lies will not become true, no matter how often they are repeated,” the PMO added.
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.
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