Cairo, September 28 — Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel reportedly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an impending Hamas attack days before the October 7, 2023 assault, according to multiple media reports citing Egyptian and regional intelligence sources. The Wall Street Journal reported that Kamel called Netanyahu in the days preceding the attack, though Netanyahu’s office denied any such contact occurred.
The Atlantic detailed that Kamel visited Israel on September 26, 2023 — exactly 11 days before the October 7 attack — to deliver a warning that Hamas was preparing a major offensive. This visit occurred amid heightened regional tensions, following earlier Egyptian alerts in June and September 2023, though none of those warnings specified the timing, scale, or operational details of the impending assault.
The Atlantic’s report, corroborated by other outlets including the Jerusalem Post and Türkiye Today, stated that Egypt had issued repeated warnings to Israel about Hamas’s preparations, but these did not include actionable intelligence sufficient to prevent the attack. Kamel, who has served as Egypt’s Director of General Intelligence since 2019, is known for his close ties to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his role in mediating between Israel and Hamas, including efforts to secure ceasefires and prisoner exchanges.
His background includes service in Egyptian military intelligence and diplomatic postings, positioning him as a key figure in Egypt’s national security apparatus. The reported warnings come amid ongoing scrutiny of Israel’s intelligence failures ahead of the October 7 attack, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths in Israel and the kidnapping of over 240 individuals, triggering the Gaza war.
Egypt has consistently denied prior knowledge of the attack’s specifics, maintaining that its warnings were general in nature and did not indicate an imminent large-scale invasion. The claims about Kamel’s actions have fueled debate over intelligence sharing and regional cooperation in preventing the escalation that led to the conflict. No official Egyptian or Israeli statement has confirmed the precise content or timing of Kamel’s alleged communications with Netanyahu beyond the denials and media reports referenced in the sources.
