An Haaretz investigation says Netanyahu failed to pass on a warning of a major Hamas operation, while Israeli officials later rejected an unconditional offer to release civilian captives.

Policy experts in the US and Middle East on Tuesday were among those responding to an “astonishing” new investigation from Haaretz, which detailed how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was alerted weeks before the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack that a “major event” was being planned by the Palestinian group – an assault that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and to which Israel has responded by slaughtering more than 73,000 Palestinians so far in Gaza.

Highlighting revelations contained in an upcoming book called Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment, by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, the Israeli newspaper reported that Netanyahu dismissed a warning about the attack from United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed, which came in a phone call in September 2023.

An adviser to bin Zayed said that according to the president, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “was........

© Pearls and Irritations