Nearly three years after Hamas’s attack on Israel, former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant revealed that a warning did reach Israeli intelligence weeks before the assault.
Gallant has confirmed that Israel received a message from Hamas through a channel involving the Shin Bet, the country’s internal security agency, in the weeks before the October 7, 2023 attack. According to Gallant, the message included a warning from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar that he would “shake the prisons.”
Speaking to Army Radio, an Israeli media outlet, on Sunday, Gallant said, “Through the channel involving the Shin Bet, we received a message came from Hamas saying that Sinwar would shake the prisons – and the assessment of the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence Directorate was that it was connected to the kidnapping of Elizabeth Tsurkov.”
Beyond the Hamas warning, Gallant also alleged that Netanyahu excluded him from sensitive discussions with senior United States officials during the war, despite his position as defence minister at the time.
“During the war, I learned many times about important conversations Netanyahu held with the Americans on the most sensitive issues, such as hostages and ammunition, only after the Americans called me and tried to verify what had been said in those conversations,” Gallant said.
He added that American officials appeared to have limited confidence in Netanyahu, saying, “Their trust in the prime minister was low.”
Gallant served as Israel’s defence minister from 2022 until November 2024, meaning he held the post both before and throughout the early stages of the Gaza war that followed the October 7 attack. He was dismissed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November 2024.
Netanyahu cited a “crisis of trust” between the two men, pointing to sustained disagreements over how the war in Gaza should be conducted. Gallant had pushed for a more pragmatic approach focused on securing a hostage deal, while Netanyahu maintained that military pressure on Hamas needed to continue. Gallant went on to resign from the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in January 2025.
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Gallant’s account follows comments from Sufian Abu Zaida, a former senior Fatah official, who said he acted as an intermediary in a secret channel between Israel and Hamas that was aimed at advancing a prisoner exchange deal.
Gallant also addressed separate reports suggesting that Netanyahu had received warnings from foreign leaders ahead of the Hamas attack, saying he had not been briefed on any such warnings while serving as defence minister. “I first heard about these warnings from media reports,” Gallant said.
“Assuming these things are true, such a warning that a prime minister receives from the leader of a country is not a political asset; it is a fundamental failure in the overall assessment of the situation,” he said.
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Asked about claims that Egypt’s intelligence chief had visited Israel in the days before the attack, Gallant said, “No such event took place to my knowledge – nor was it handled by anyone under my authority.”
Gallant’s remarks come at a politically sensitive time, with Israel’s next general election scheduled for October 27, 2026, marking the first time since 1988 that a Knesset has completed a full four-year term. The vote is expected to be shaped heavily by questions over accountability for the October 7 attack and the government’s conduct during the war that followed.
