Ex-PA minister says he’ll soon reveal his pre-Oct. 7 mediation between Israel and Hamas, and message he conveyed from Sinwar

A former Palestinian Authority minister revealed on Friday that he served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas in the lead-up to the terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, and said that he would soon reveal details of those talks, including a message that he passed to Israel from then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Shortly after Sufian Abu Zaida posted a video on Facebook making the revelation, Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar identified the former PA minister for prisoner affairs as the source who helped spur an urgent phone call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed 10 days before October 7, during which the latter warned that Hamas was planning a major offensive against Israel.

Eldar first revealed the call from bin Zayed earlier this month, in a story that sparked a massive uproar in Israel, as it alleged that Netanyahu did not act on the information. The prime minister has vehemently denied that any such call took place.

“Over the next few days, I will discuss the nature of the contacts I held over a year and a half between Israel and Hamas, which were aimed at reaching a deal to secure the release of the prisoners held by Hamas,” Abu Zaida said in his video statement, referring to two Israeli civilians who were being held by Hamas for years before the Hamas invasion after wandering into Gaza, along with the bodies of two IDF soldiers.

Abu Zaida said that in exchange for the four Israelis, the sides had discussed Jerusalem releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, easing its blockade of Gaza, allowing more Palestinian workers to enter Israel and resolving the enclave’s electricity and water crises.

“I will also discuss the message that… Sinwar asked me to convey to the Israeli side,” Abu Zaida said, urging viewers to tune in to the Egyptian Al-Ghad TV channel where he would be giving an interview in the coming days.

Later on Friday, Eldar posted that Abu Zaida was the individual he had only identified in his bombshell Haaretz report as “Coal Eyes.”

The Haaretz report described “Coal Eyes” as a senior Fatah interlocutor in talks between Israel and Hamas that were launched with Netanyahu’s approval, with the aim of reaching a longterm truce.

Abu Zaida mediated between the Sinwar-appointed Ghazi Hamad and agents from the Shin Bet, the report said. While Abu Zaida was utilized so Israel could avoid engaging in direct talks with Hamas, the sides would often meet together in the same room, Haaretz said, adding that all parties spoke Hebrew fluently.

Eldar, in his Friday post, said Abu Zaida did not want to be identified in his article 10 days ago, so they agreed to refer to him based on the color of his eyes.

The negotiations involving Abu Zaida were reportedly held over several months in early 2023, until Sinwar grew frustrated with the lack of progress.

Haaretz suggested Netanyahu’s hesitancy could have stemmed from fear of reaching a deal with the terror group and backlash from hardline members of his government, while Shin Bet officials managing the talks said the prime minister would express concern about leaks to the media.

At this point, Sinwar approached Abu Zaida and told him to inform Israel, “If they don’t move forward with the negotiations, I’m preparing a massive surprise for them. There is going to be a zilzal,” Eldar quoted Sinwar on Friday as having said, using the Arabic word for “earthquake.”

Eldar wrote in his earlier report that Coal Eyes then passed along the message to a senior adviser to the Emirati president, who he described as a Palestinian living in exile in Abu Dhabi. This is widely believed to be the PA’s former Gaza intelligence chief Mohammad Dahlan.

Abu Zaida is also part of a breakaway Fatah faction headed by Dahlan.

After receiving the warning from Coal Eyes, the Emirati president’s adviser asked the mediator to meet again with Sinwar to verify the seriousness of the latter’s threat.

Such a sit-down was held in mid-September 2023, with Sinwar repeating the threat and asking Coal Eyes to pass it along word for word.

The presidential adviser then informed bin Zayed of the warning, and on September 15, 2023, Coal Eyes also informed the Shin Bet of Sinwar’s message, Haaretz reported.

Then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar requested an immediate phone call with Netanyahu and told him about the “earthquake” threat from Sinwar. The prime minister agreed to hold a consultation with the heads of the relevant security Israeli agencies.

The briefing was held two days later, but no concrete steps were approved, leading bin Zayed to call Netanyahu himself in order to again pass along the message and stress the urgency of the matter.

In his Friday social media post, Eldar said he spoke to a senior Shin Bet official following Abu Zaida’s revelation.

“That is where the difference lies: we updated the system as soon as the first message arrived from Sufian Abu Zaida and recommended to Netanyahu that we nip it in the bud with a strike and reinforce our defenses, [as opposed to Netanyahu] who never passed along the message from (Emirati president) MBZ to us,” Eldar quotes the Shin Bet official as having said.

Abu Zaida has maintained regular contact with Israeli journalists over the years. Born in Jabalia in the Gaza Strip in 1960, he lived there until leaving Gaza for Egypt after the October 7 assault and has since been living in Cairo.