General

Egypt warned Israel days before Hamas attack, US committee chairman says

October 12, 2023

Egypt had issued a warning to Israel about the possibility of violent incidents three days prior to Hamas’s deadly raid over the border, according to the head of a congressional subcommittee in the United States.

Michael McCaul, who is the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, briefed reporters about the supposed threat.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, referred to the reports as “completely false.”

The failure of Israeli intelligence services to prevent the bloodiest strike carried out by Palestinian militants in Israel’s history of 75 years is currently the subject of intense inquiry.

“We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen,” Mr. McCaul told reporters following a closed-door intelligence briefing on Wednesday for lawmakers about the issue in the Middle East, according to the AFP news agency. The meeting was about the situation in the Middle East.

“I don’t want to get too much into classified, but a warning was given,” the Texas Republican explained further. “I think the question was at what level.”

This week, an Egyptian intelligence officer revealed to the Associated Press news agency that Cairo had frequently warned the Israelis that “something big” was being planned from Gaza. The person was speaking to the news agency.

“We have warned them that an explosion of the issue is coming, and it will come very soon, and it will be significant. But they failed to heed such warnings,” said the official, who requested their anonymity so that he could speak freely.

According to the official in Cairo, Israeli authorities have minimized the threat posed by Gaza and have instead been concentrating on the West Bank.

There was no concrete evidence of a particular attack, according to the Financial Times, which cited two officials familiar with the situation but who asked not to be identified.

On Wednesday, Mr. Netanyahu referred to any allegation that Israel had gotten a specific warning in advance of the deadly assault as “totally fake news.” He said this because any claim that Israel had received such a warning was “totally fake news.”

Egypt, which has complete authority over the movement of people over its border with Gaza, frequently acts as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.

In an assault that was coordinated on land, air, and water, around 1,500 militants broke past the military barrier separating Gaza from Israel on Saturday.

The number of Israelis killed as a direct result of Hamas attacks has reached 1,200. The Israeli air raids on Gaza have resulted in the deaths of more than one thousand civilians.

In retaliation, Israel has begun bombarding Hamas strongholds in Gaza, while residents of the enclave have reported that they are without mains electricity since the sole power station in the region has run out of fuel.

In the meantime, Hamas has criticised comments made by Vice President Joe Biden of the United States on Tuesday, in which he stated that Israel had a responsibility to respond to the attacks, which he referred to as a “act of sheer evil.”

The Palestinian group referred to Mr. Biden’s comments as “inflammatory” and said that they were intended to increase tensions in the Gaza Strip.

Following the attack that was carried out by Hamas, the United States made the announcement that it would be sending an aircraft carrier, ships, and jets to the eastern Mediterranean, and that it would also provide Israel with extra weapons and ammunition.

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