ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was directly warned by the president of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a major offensive just days before the militant group attacked on October 7 2023, according to an Israeli newspaper report.

UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed spoke with Mr Netanyahu 10 days before the attack and said Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza at the time, was planning an operation, the Haaretz daily said.

President bin Zayed said it would lead to bloodshed and could destabilise the region and undermine the Abraham Accords, the normalisation agreements between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, the newspaper reported.

But Mr Netanyahu “reacted with relative calm,” according to Haaretz, which said he assured Mr bin Zayed that Israel was prepared for any scenario and a possible attack was more likely to come from the occupied West Bank.

Some 1,200 people were killed during the attack and another 251 taken hostage in the October 7 attack and more than 73,650 Palestinians during Israel’s retaliation.

Haaretz reported that Mr Netanyahu’s office called the report an “absolute lie” and denied the prime minister had spoken with the UAE president “during the period in question and received no warning from him.”

Mr Netanyahu has rejected calls for an official government inquiry into the events surrounding the October 7 attack. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry also did not immediately respond for comment.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former top general who is seen as Mr Netanyahu’s main opponent in next month’s Israeli general election, accused the prime minister of ignoring dozens of warnings ahead of the attack and described the prime minister as “unfit,” to hold office.

Opposition politician Naftali Bennett said the prime minister “bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch.”