An Egyptian intelligence official has said that Israel ignored warnings that “something big” was coming amid questions about how the Hamas attack that was launched Saturday took the Israeli government by surprise, considering Gaza is under constant Israeli surveillance.
“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 Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AP.
The official said that Israeli officials played down the threats from Gaza and focused on the West Bank, where Israel has conducted major raids since the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came into power in December. Netanyahu’s coalition includes settlers who are working to expand settlements in the West Bank with the ultimate goal of annexing the territory.
According to The Times of Israel, Ynet reported that Egypt’s Intelligence Minister General Abbas Kamel called Netanyahu just 10 days before the Hamas attack, warning that militants in Gaza were planning “something unusual, a terrible operation.”
For their part, Netanyahu’s office dismissed the reports as fake news. “No early message came from Egypt and the prime minister did not speak or meet with the intelligence chief since the establishment of the government — not indirectly or directly. This is completely fake news,” his office said.
Source: AntiWar.
