Overview
- Sufian Abu Zaida publicly identified himself as the intermediary known as “Coal Eyes” and said he will provide more details about the contacts and message he carried.
- Abu Zaida says he met Yahya Sinwar in Gaza and was told of a planned “huge surprise,” using the Arabic word “zilzal,” often translated as “earthquake,” to describe the threat.
- Investigative reporting has said a version of that warning reached Israel’s Shin Bet in mid-September 2023 and prompted internal discussion of preventive strikes or stronger Gaza-border defenses.
- Other accounts say the warning also moved through UAE-linked channels and that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed reportedly warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Netanyahu’s office denies such a call and the UAE declined to comment on specifics.
- Abu Zaida’s long ties to Mohammed Dahlan and contacts in the UAE help explain why the message was routed indirectly, and his disclosure could affect ongoing probes into why the intelligence did not trigger wider Israeli preparations.