‘There will be an earthquake’ – Former Palestinian Authority minister says he revealed Sinwar message to Shin Bet

A former Palestinian Authority (PA) minister said he served as a messenger between Hamas and the Israeli government prior to the Hamas terror attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Sufyan Abu Zaida, a senior Fatah official who once served as the PA’s minister of prisoner affairs, published a teaser last week for a video interview with Egypt’s Al-Ghad TV channel, in which he said he would reveal “the message that Abu Ibrahim (Yahya) Sinwar asked me to convey to the Israeli side” during negotiations.

The interview drew further attention after Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar identified Abu Zaida as the Palestinian contact known as “Coal Eyes,” who was mentioned in Eldar’s recent Haaretz report. The report claimed that United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a Hamas threat 10 days before the Oct. 7 attacks.

Netanyahu has denied receiving a phone call from MBZ, calling the report a fabrication.

On Friday, Abu Zaida’s full interview with Al-Ghad aired publicly, in which he said he was part of a secret communication channel between Hamas and Israel at the time, aimed at reaching a prisoner-release agreement.

During the negotiations, Hamas was holding two Israeli citizens, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, both of whom had entered Gaza of their own accord. They were later released as part of hostage negotiations during the Gaza War.

Hamas was also holding the bodies of deceased IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.

During the interview, Abu Zaida showed what he said was a note he wrote by hand, dictated to him, “word for word,” by Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader in Gaza and one of the chief architects of the Oct. 7 massacre. Sinwar was killed by Israeli military forces in October 2024.

Abu Zaida said he received the message at a meeting with Sinwar on Sept. 14, 2023, after months of negotiations had failed to produce an agreement. He said Sinwar instructed him to convey the message to the Israeli government.

“Before the end of September, we will put the cards on the table,” the note reads. “There will be an earthquake regarding the negotiations, and they [the Israeli government] should prepare to empty the prisons.” 

Abu Zaida said he had transmitted the warning both in Arabic and Hebrew to avoid any misinterpretation.

According to the former PA minister, his role began in mid-March 2022, when he was contacted by Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad, who was interested in negotiating a “prisoner exchange.”

Abu Zaida was unwilling to agree until Hamad assured him that Sinwar, known within the terror group as “Abu Ibrahim,” had requested his help. 

Both Hamad and Abu Zaida had previously served in Israeli prison together, where they met for the first time. Both men are known to be fluent in Hebrew. 

After that meeting, Abu Zaida said he contacted a retired Israeli security official who had previously handled negotiations for Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, asking him to convey a message to Israeli officials that Hamas was ready to negotiate over the prisoners.

He said the first meeting with Israel took place in Ashkelon, where he explained how Hamas had asked him to negotiate on their behalf. 

Abu Zaida also said Israeli officials focused on interpreting the phrase “an earthquake” and trying to understand what Sinwar meant by “the cards.” He said the same word, “earthquake,” was used in the warning that Netanyahu reportedly received from MBZ.

Multiple reports in Israeli and foreign media in recent weeks have claimed that Netanyahu received several warnings before Oct. 7, 2023, including from Egyptian intelligence officials.

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office released a statement denying one such report in The Atlantic, saying that the "allegation is false. It was denied at the time and is being recycled to manipulate the Israeli public.” 

However, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a recent interview with Army Radio that Israeli security agencies, including the Shin Bet, interpreted Sinwar’s statement in the context of the prisoner-release negotiations and connected it to the captivity of Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov.

According to Israeli media reports, the agencies believed Hamas may have been seeking to negotiate Tsurkov’s release through its Iranian connections in exchange for the release of its members held in Israeli prisons.

Abu Zaida said Sinwar delivered the message to him during a Sept. 14, 2023, meeting with Sinwar, when he received the final message he conveyed to the Israeli side.

He said he then returned to Gaza and expected to meet with Sinwar again on Oct. 8. However, Hamas carried out its attack on Oct. 7, after which Abu Zaida left Gaza.