Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Director Abbas Kamel, June 30, 2021.(photo credit: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO)
Reported by:
Cherry Meigh Timbol
News Content Editor
Published September 26, 2026
A newly reported secret visit by Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel to Israel in September 2023 has renewed questions about what Israeli officials knew before the October 7 attack.
Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel secretly flew to Israel on September 26, 2023 — 11 days before the October 7 attack — carrying an urgent warning that Hamas appeared to be preparing for a major escalation in Gaza, according to an investigation by The Atlantic reported by The Jerusalem Post and Ynet.
According to the reports, Kamel’s aircraft, a chartered Cessna linked to Egyptian intelligence, landed at Ben-Gurion Airport and remained there for approximately 67 minutes before returning to Cairo. The aircraft reportedly used an isolated section of the airport associated with sensitive diplomatic and security missions.
A Warning Without a Specific Attack Plan
The reported Egyptian warning did not contain a precise date, target or operational plan for the attack that would ultimately occur on October 7.
Officials briefed on the visit said Kamel warned that Hamas appeared to be preparing for a significant attack and urged Israel to ease economic pressure on Gaza in an effort to prevent further escalation. One former Israeli official characterized the message as a warning that Gaza was close to exploding.
That distinction is important. The reporting does not establish that Egyptian intelligence provided Israel with detailed information identifying October 7 as the date of an invasion or describing Hamas’s planned assault.
Instead, the warning reportedly pointed toward a serious deterioration of the situation in Gaza.
The Timing Raised New Questions
Kamel’s reported visit occurred as Israeli leaders gathered in Jerusalem to mark the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a conflict remembered in Israel for the surprise attack that caught the country off guard in 1973.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the commemoration and later participated in a classified briefing, according to his public schedule. The reported Egyptian visit therefore occurred on a day when Israeli leaders were publicly reflecting on the dangers of intelligence failures and strategic surprise.
The Atlantic’s reporting, as summarized by both Israeli outlets, says officials from several countries questioned whether the arrival of Egypt’s intelligence chief for such a brief and unusual visit should itself have been treated as a significant warning.
However, it remains unclear which Israeli officials met with Kamel and precisely how his message was handled after the meeting.
Netanyahu’s Office Has Previously Denied Receiving an Egyptian Warning
The new reporting conflicts with previous statements from Israeli officials.
Following the October 7 attack, Netanyahu’s office rejected reports that the prime minister had received an Egyptian warning, saying he had neither spoken nor met with Kamel since the formation of his government, directly or indirectly.
Tzachi Hanegbi, who was Israel’s National Security Council chief at the time, has also disputed the reported visit and said no Egyptian warning was delivered.
The distinction between whether Netanyahu personally received a warning and whether Israeli officials elsewhere in the security or political system received Egyptian intelligence remains central to the controversy.
Warnings Continued Before October 7
The reported September 26 meeting was apparently not the only communication from Egypt.
According to officials cited by The Atlantic, Egypt sent another warning to Israel on October 5, 2023, two days before the Hamas attack. That message reportedly expressed urgency about the deteriorating situation but, again, did not provide a specific date or method of attack.
Ynet’s report describes a broader series of warnings and signals from regional and international actors during the weeks preceding October 7. These included concerns communicated through Egyptian and Gulf channels as well as warnings from international officials about deteriorating conditions in Gaza.
At the same time, the available reporting indicates that many of those warnings were interpreted as signs of another round of rocket fire or a conventional escalation rather than the unprecedented coordinated assault Hamas ultimately launched.
Hamas Was Reportedly Using Negotiations While Preparing
The reports also describe a critical period in late September 2023 when Egypt, Qatar and United Nations mediators were attempting to reduce tensions between Israel and Hamas.
Issues including Gaza work permits, fuel supplies, border protests and economic restrictions were being negotiated.
According to the reporting, Hamas was simultaneously continuing preparations for a much larger military operation. This created a situation in which diplomatic activity could have obscured the scale of Hamas’s preparations.
The October 7 attack eventually killed about 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in 251 hostages being taken to Gaza, according to the figures cited by Ynet.
What Remains Unresolved
The latest reporting does not by itself establish that Israeli leaders possessed enough specific information to predict the October 7 assault.
Several questions remain open:
• Who exactly met Abbas Kamel during his reported September 26 visit?
• What information did Kamel provide beyond the general warning of a major escalation?
• Who inside Israel received or reviewed that information?
• Was the warning passed to Prime Minister Netanyahu?
• How was the warning assessed by Israeli intelligence agencies?
• Why did the warning not result in a reassessment of Hamas’s intentions?
Those questions are particularly significant because the warning reportedly came from the head of Egypt’s intelligence service, a country with extensive security contacts with both Israel and Gaza.
🧩 Bottom Line:
The newly reported account adds another piece to the continuing debate over the intelligence and security failures preceding the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
The reported visit by Abbas Kamel is significant because it allegedly involved a senior Egyptian intelligence official personally traveling to Israel just 11 days before the attack. But the reporting also makes clear that the warning lacked a specific attack date, target or operational plan, and Israeli officials have disputed whether the visit and warning occurred as described.
The central unresolved issue is therefore not simply whether warnings existed, but what Israeli decision-makers knew, when they knew it, and how those warnings were interpreted before October 7.
SOURCES: THE JERUSALEM POST – Egyptian intelligence chief visited Israel days before Oct. 7 to issue security warning – report
YNET NEWS – Egypt spy chief flew to Israel 11 days before Oct. 7 with warning on Gaza, report says
