An Egyptian intelligence official said Israel's government downplayed threats from Gaza and was repeatedly warned of 'something big'

• An Egyptian intelligence official said the Israeli government was warned about "something big" before the Hamas attacks.
• "We have warned them an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon," the official told the AP.

Before the Palestinian militant organization Hamas launched its unprecedented, large-scale attacks on Israel over the weekend, the Israeli government was repeatedly warned that "something big" was brewing from the group that controls the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian intelligence official told The Associated Press.

Yet Israeli officials downplayed the threat from Gaza and instead focused on the occupied West Bank, the anonymous Egyptian intelligence official claimed, the news outlet reported on Monday.

"We have warned them an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it would be big. But they underestimated such warnings," the Egyptian official told the AP.

The Egyptian official said that Egypt, which has historically acted as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, told Israel repeatedly that "something big" was being planned.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Monday, but his office, in a statement on social media, called the report that a warning had been given from Egypt "absolutely false."

"The report to the effect that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a message in advance from Egypt is absolutely false," the prime minister's office said in a tweet.

Netanyahu's office added, "No message in advance has arrived from Egypt and the Prime Minister has neither spoken, nor met, with the head of Egyptian intelligence since the formation of the government, neither directly nor indirectly. This is totally fake news."

Israel's intelligence agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Monday and a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment when asked about the AP report.

Early on Saturday, Hamas unleashed its surprise assault on Israel — the deadliest attack there in decades — at the end of the Jewish Sukkot holiday.

At least 700 Israelis have been killed in the attacks and dozens more, including women, children, and seniors, have been taken hostage by Hamas into Gaza.

In the aftermath of the attacks, Israel declared war on Hamas and launched retaliatory strikes in Gaza. The death toll there was over 400 as of Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu, called it a "major failure" that Israel was so blindsided by the Hamas attack in an interview with the AP.

"This operation actually proves that the [intelligence] abilities in Gaza were no good," Amidror told the news outlet.