JERUSALEM (VINnews) – U.S. officials in the Biden administration were not aware of a specific warning from the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was preparing a major attack against Israel before the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, according to two sources familiar with the matter cited by The Jerusalem Post.

The sources said American officials also were not informed of such a warning after the attack.

The claims follow a Haaretz report that UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke with then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about 10 days before Oct. 7 and warned that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation.

According to the report, the roughly 45-minute conversation included concerns that an attack could cause significant bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords. The report also said then-CIA Director William Burns was aware that bin Zayed had tried to convey concerns about an impending escalation.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the Biden administration had no knowledge of any such specific warning. That does not establish whether the UAE actually delivered the warning to Netanyahu, however, and the account remains disputed.

Netanyahu’s office has denied the Haaretz report, saying he did not speak with the UAE president during the period in question and did not receive a warning from him. The prime minister has since instructed his lawyers to pursue a libel lawsuit against Haaretz and the journalist who reported the story.

The UAE Foreign Ministry has declined to directly confirm or deny the reported conversation. It said UAE and Israeli officials have maintained direct communications and that relevant intelligence has been shared between the countries when necessary.

The UAE had separately raised concerns with Israeli officials in 2023 that Israeli policies and rhetoric could threaten regional stability, according to the Post.

The conflicting accounts leave unanswered whether a specific UAE warning about Hamas was delivered to Netanyahu before Oct. 7 and, if so, whether it was passed to Israel’s security leadership or U.S. officials.