Gallant confirms Hamas warned Shin Bet ahead of Oct. 7, says Netanyahu barred him from US talks

Former Israeli Defence Minister Gallant has confirmed that Hamas provided a warning to the Shin Bet security service before the October 7 attack. According to reports from The Times of Israel and Ynetnews, the warning originated from Yahya Sinwar, who sent a note 22 days before the assault stating that an 'earthquake' was coming and that Israel should prepare to empty its prisons. Gallant stated that Sinwar explicitly warned that he would cause prisons to quake. While the warning was received, Gallant noted that the Shin Bet misread the meaning of the communication, failing to recognize the scale of the impending operation. Coverage from The Jerusalem Post, The Times of India, and NDTV emphasizes the gravity of this intelligence failure and the internal friction within the Israeli leadership.

Specifically, The Jerusalem Post reports that Gallant claims Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu barred him from participating in talks held in the United States. This suggests a significant rift between the former defence minister and the Prime Minister regarding the handling of security intelligence and diplomatic engagements. The reporting highlights a pattern of communication breakdowns between the intelligence services and the political leadership during the lead-up to the conflict. Contextual details provided by Haaretz and Yahoo indicate that Israeli defense officials held an urgent meeting regarding Gaza weeks before the October 7 attacks took place. Additionally, a former Palestinian Authority minister and a former Fatah official have provided further details on the nature of Sinwar's 'earthquake' warning, corroborating the claim that Israel was alerted to a coming disruption.

These revelations suggest that the intelligence community had access to specific indicators of a planned mass action, though these signals were not acted upon in a way that prevented the breach. Future attention is directed toward the fallout of these claims, particularly regarding the accountability of the Shin Bet and the nature of the restricted US talks mentioned by Gallant. As reported by The Jerusalem Post, the conflict between Gallant and Netanyahu remains a central point of contention. Monitoring will focus on whether further details emerge from the urgent pre-attack meetings mentioned by Haaretz and how the Israeli government addresses the assertion that a direct warning about the prisons was misread by security officials.