An Egyptian private aircraft that landed at Ben Gurion Airport on September 26, 2023, just 11 days before the October 7 massacre, was carrying two businessmen, and not Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, Kan News reported on Wednesday evening.
According to the report, the aircraft belonged to the Egyptian charter company Smart Aviation and arrived in Israel shortly before 10:00 a.m. It departed for Cairo at approximately 11:00 a.m. without any passengers aboard.
Sources familiar with the flight told Kan News that the two passengers entered Israel through the Fattal private aviation terminal at Ben Gurion Airport. The aircraft received ground services from QAS before returning to Egypt.
The sources described the flight as a routine business trip involving passengers returning from Egypt, rather than an official diplomatic or security-related visit.
The new findings directly contradict an investigation published by The Atlantic last month, which claimed that Kamel, then director of Egypt's General Intelligence Service, had personally flown to Israel on September 26 to warn Israeli officials about Hamas's preparations for a major attack.
According to The Atlantic, Kamel spent approximately 67 minutes in Israel and conveyed an urgent warning about the deteriorating situation in Gaza. The magazine cited officials who said the Egyptian intelligence chief sought to alert Israel to the possibility of a major escalation, although he did not provide a specific date or operational details of an attack.
The account was disputed by Tzachi Hanegbi, who served as Israel's national security adviser at the time, and by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, which denied that Kamel had personally delivered such a warning.
Kan News reported that the identities of the two passengers are known to the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Transportation's aviation security authorities, the Fattal terminal, the Population and Immigration Authority, and the Egyptian charter company.
However, the report noted that passenger confidentiality is a fundamental principle of private aviation, preventing the relevant organizations from publicly identifying the individuals involved.
Last week, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Avi Gil, who previously served as Netanyahu's military secretary, confirmed in media interviews that an Egyptian aircraft had landed in Israel approximately a week and a half before the October 7 massacre.
Wednesday's Kan News report identifies the passengers as two businessmen and, citing sources familiar with the matter, rejects the claim that Egypt's intelligence chief was aboard the aircraft.