Gallant says Shin Bet received message from Hamas before October 7 — Jerusalem Post

In Israel, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the Israeli security service Shin Bet received a message conveyed by Hamas before the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. According to him, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar threatened in it to shake up the prisons.

Statement on contacts with the United States

As The Jerusalem Post reports, Gallant also said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not inform the defense minister and other senior security officials about sensitive conversations with senior US officials during the war in Gaza.

According to the former minister, he repeatedly learned about Netanyahu's important conversations with Americans concerning hostages and ammunition only after calls from the United States. Representatives of the American side, he said, sought to clarify the content of these contacts. Gallant also said that the American side's trust in the Israeli prime minister was low.

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Message through an intermediary

Gallant's comments came after new reports about contacts that allegedly took place several weeks before the October 7 attack. Former senior Fatah official Sufian Abu Zaida had previously said that he acted as an intermediary in a secret communication channel between Israel and Hamas that was intended to help advance prisoner exchange arrangements.

Gallant also said that he did not know about alleged warnings that Netanyahu may have received from foreign leaders before the Hamas attack. According to him, he first learned about such messages from the media. The former minister noted that if these warnings had indeed been received, this would indicate a serious shortcoming in the assessment of the situation.