Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an unannounced trip to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, where he held an hour-long private meeting with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan aimed at securing a public denial of recent reports that the Gulf state warned him of an impending large-scale Hamas attack weeks before the October 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel, multiple regional and international media outlets have confirmed. The controversial claim first emerged in a Haaretz report published in September, which drew details from an upcoming book alleging that bin Zayed personally cautioned Netanyahu to prepare for a major Hamas offensive. The report further stated that the Emirati leader advised Netanyahu to pursue an economic resolution to the long-standing blockade of the Gaza Strip and de-escalate rising violence in the occupied West Bank, where illegal Israeli settlement expansion has accelerated and settler attacks on Palestinian civilians have proceeded with little to no accountability.
Netanyahu asked UAE leader to publicly deny 7 October 2023 warning to Israel: Report
