Fmr PA minister comes forward as source in Haaretz’s pre-Oct. 7 warning report
Sufian Abu Zaida identifies himself as the previously unnamed intermediary who allegedly conveyed Sinwar’s warning; Netanyahu denies the report’s claim that he received a warning from the UAE
Sufian Abu Zaida, a former Palestinian Authority minister, has publicly identified himself as the unnamed intermediary in Haaretz’s report about an alleged warning from Hamas before the October 7, 2023, attack, The Times of Israel reported Friday.
In a video posted to Facebook, Abu Zaida says he served as a go-between and relayed a message from Yahya Sinwar to Israeli intelligence. According to his account, Sinwar, then Hamas’s leader in Gaza, threatened an “earthquake” if negotiations with Israel over a long-term arrangement failed.
Haaretz had referred to the intermediary as “Coal Eyes,” withholding his identity in its account of contacts between Israel and Hamas before the attack. Abu Zaida has now come forward to say he was that source.
The Haaretz report also alleged that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before the Hamas-led attack that Sinwar was preparing a major operation. The newspaper claimed Netanyahu did not pass the warning on to senior security officials.
Netanyahu’s office categorically rejected that account, calling it “an absolute lie” and saying he neither spoke with the Emirati president during the relevant period nor received a warning from him.
As previously reported by i24NEWS, the Prime Minister’s Office subsequently said Netanyahu had instructed his lawyers to file a defamation lawsuit over the report. It said checks of telephone logs and entry records found no evidence of the alleged conversation or a visit by an Emirati representative carrying the secure telephone used for such calls.
The UAE declined to confirm or deny the reported conversation, saying relevant intelligence was shared with Israel through official channels when necessary. That statement did not substantiate Haaretz’s account.
Abu Zaida did not address the alleged UAE warning to Netanyahu in his video, The Times of Israel pointed out.
A former PA minister for prisoner affairs, Abu Zaida belongs to the Fatah faction aligned with Mohammed Dahlan, who broke with PA President Mahmoud Abbas and left the West Bank in 2011. Abu Zaida lived in Jabalia in northern Gaza before leaving for Egypt at the start of the war and now resides in Cairo, according to The Times of Israel.