A new investigation has cast serious doubt on widely reported claims that Egypt’s intelligence chief secretly flew to Israel just 11 days before the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre to deliver an urgent warning about an impending attack. The Egyptian private jet that landed at Ben Gurion Airport on September 26, 2023, was actually carrying two businessmen, not Abbas Kamel, who headed Egypt’s intelligence services at the time, Kan News reported Wednesday.

The revelation directly challenges earlier investigations, including a September report by The Atlantic, which claimed that Kamel personally traveled to Israel aboard the aircraft to warn senior Israeli officials that Hamas was preparing a significant attack. That investigation, based on information from officials in multiple countries and aviation records, generated widespread controversy over what warnings Israel may have received before October 7.

Similar allegations had previously appeared in Israeli media, including Israel Hayom, which reported that Egyptian intelligence officials had attempted to warn Israel about growing threats from Gaza. The reports intensified public debate over the intelligence failures preceding the massacre and whether senior Israeli officials had received advance warnings.

However, Wednesday’s findings present a sharply different account of the flight that became central to those allegations.

According to multiple sources familiar with the incident, the aircraft belonged to Egyptian charter company Smart Aviation and landed at Ben Gurion Airport shortly before 10 a.m. on September 26, 2023.

Two businessmen disembarked and entered Israel through the private Fattal Terminal. Approximately one hour later, the aircraft departed for Cairo without any passengers.

The plane received routine ground services from QAS, and the flight was classified as an ordinary civilian business operation rather than an official diplomatic or security-related mission.

The identities of the two businessmen are known to the relevant Israeli authorities, including the Transportation Ministry, the Fattal Terminal, and the Population and Immigration Authority, as well as the Egyptian charter company. However, their names have not been publicly disclosed due to confidentiality practices surrounding private aviation.

The new findings are particularly significant because previous reports had pointed to the aircraft’s brief visit as evidence of an urgent intelligence mission. The Atlantic’s investigation had described Kamel’s purported arrival as an extraordinary attempt by Egypt to alert Israeli officials to the possibility of a major Hamas attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied receiving an advance warning from Kamel and has maintained that he neither met nor spoke with the Egyptian intelligence chief before the massacre. Netanyahu’s statements came amid mounting questions over the allegations published by Israeli and international media outlets.

The latest investigation does not establish that Kamel never visited Israel during that period. It specifically disputes claims that he was aboard the September 26 aircraft. It also does not determine whether Egyptian intelligence conveyed warnings to Israeli security officials through other channels.

Last week, former military secretary to Netanyahu Maj. Gen. Avi Gil stated in media interviews that there was no doubt an Egyptian aircraft had landed in Israel approximately a week and a half before October 7. The newly disclosed findings confirm the aircraft’s arrival while identifying its passengers as two businessmen rather than the Egyptian intelligence chief.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)