"I didn't think it was a warning for war": 'Eini Paham' speaks - Likud attacks the investigation

Dr. Sufian Abu Zayda, the source known as 'Eini Paham', confirmed that he received an unusual message from Yahya Sinwar in September 2023 and passed it to the Shin Bet, but said he did not interpret it in real time as a warning of war. Likud attacked the investigation, calling it a 'blood libel'.

Dr. Sufian Abu Zayda, the source known as 'Eini Paham' in an investigation by Shlomi Eldar, confirmed in an interview with Channel 12 that he received an unusual message from Yahya Sinwar on September 14, 2023 and passed it to the Shin Bet. According to him, Sinwar used the term 'earthquake' (zilzal in Arabic) and asked to convey a message to Israel that before the end of September, Hamas would 'lay its cards on the table'. Abu Zayda presented a note he wrote in real time. He emphasized that at the time he did not interpret the words as a warning of war, but as a threat related to negotiations on prisoners, and perhaps to the kidnapping of a soldier or civilian in the West Bank. The Shin Bet contacted him within about half an hour to clarify the circumstances of the message. Likud attacked the investigation: 'The false blood libels will continue in order to incite the public from the central election question - it's either right or Palestine'. The testimony does not decide the dispute over the alleged conversation between Ronen Bar and Netanyahu, but concerns the early part of the chain - receiving the message from Sinwar and how it was understood in real time.