- US officials confirmed Egypt warned Israel of major attack.
Wednesday marks three years since the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. But reports that Israel had been warned about the possibility of a major attack from Gaza days before the assault continue to raise questions over the intelligence failure surrounding the incident.
Israel was alerted by Egypt about the possibility of a major violent incident from Gaza three days before Hamas launched its deadly cross-border attack, according to Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Hamas-led surprise assault on southern Israel began on October 7, 2023, and became the deadliest day for Israelis in the country’s history.
‘A Warning Was Given’
McCaul said the Egyptian warning was discussed during a closed-door intelligence briefing for US lawmakers on Wednesday. He said he could not provide further details because the information was classified.
“We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen,” McCaul told reporters after the briefing in 2023, according to AFP.
“I don’t want to get too much into classified, but a warning was given,” the Texas Republican added. “I think the question was at what level.”
Egypt Says It Issued Repeated Warnings
An Egyptian intelligence official also told the Associated Press in 2023 that Cairo had repeatedly warned Israeli officials that “something big” was being planned in Gaza.
“We have warned them an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it would be big. But they underestimated such warnings,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
According to the official, Israeli officials had played down the threat from Gaza and were instead more focused on the West Bank.
Egypt, which controls crossings on its border with Gaza, has frequently acted as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.
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Netanyahu Rejects Advance Warning Reports
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that Israel had received a specific warning about the October 7 attack.
Netanyahu described suggestions that Israel had been given advance notice of the deadly incursion as “totally fake news”.
Israeli intelligence agencies have faced intense scrutiny over their failure to prevent the attack, which became the deadliest assault by Palestinian militants in Israel’s 75-year history.
Former UK Intelligence Chief Points To ‘Complacency’
Sir Alex Younger, who led the UK’s foreign intelligence agency from 2014 to 2020, said the attack was possible because of what he described as “institutional complacency” in Israel.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Podcast, Younger said Israel may have believed Hamas was not seeking another major conflict. As a result, information that challenged that assumption may have been discounted.
“It is my assumption – though I’m not on the inside – that there would be data breaking through that could have been interpreted differently and certainly would be with hindsight,” he said.
Younger also said an excessive reliance on technology to monitor Gaza may have contributed to a false sense of security.
The reported warnings, Israel’s denial and questions over how intelligence was assessed remain central to scrutiny of the failures surrounding the October 7 attack, three years after the deadly assault.
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