Sufian Abu Zaida, the Palestinian intermediary known by the pseudonym “Coal Eyes,” has revealed for the first time a handwritten note he says was dictated to him by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar 22 days before the Oct. 7 attack and then passed to Israel in both Arabic and Hebrew.
According to Abu Zaida, the message was dictated during a meeting with Sinwar in Gaza on Sept. 14, 2023.
“Before the end of September, we will put the cards on the table. There will be an earthquake regarding the negotiations, and they [the Israelis] should prepare to empty the prisons,” the note reads.
Abu Zaida displayed the note in a documentary aired Thursday night by the Arabic-language Al-Rad television channel. He said Sinwar insisted that the message be conveyed to Israel “word for word, letter for letter,” leaving no room for changes in translation.
The wording closely matches highly classified intelligence previously revealed by Yedioth Ahronoth and ynet journalist Ronen Bergman, according to which Israel received information in mid-September 2023 that Sinwar had said Hamas would present something by the end of the month that would cause an “earthquake” and lead to the release of all Palestinian prisoners.
That intelligence was transmitted through one of several unofficial back channels linking Hamas figures with Israel — secret, direct lines of communication that remained outside formal diplomatic or security channels.
Abu Zaida said that immediately after meeting Sinwar, he relayed the message to Israeli officials. Less than half an hour later, he said, the Israeli side called to verify that Sinwar had indeed intended for the message to be passed on. An urgent meeting was arranged for the following morning.
At 9:30 a.m., Abu Zaida said, he met in Ashkelon with an official identified as Oscar, who headed the southern command involved in the contacts, and Adi Rotem, then head of the negotiating team.
“Do you know that nobody in Israel — meaning in the security establishment — slept last night?” Abu Zaida recalled the Israelis telling him.
Sufian Abu Zaida meeting Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar before the Oct. 7 attack
He said they pressed him on what Sinwar meant by an “earthquake,” what “cards” he intended to put on the table and whether the Hamas leader had appeared angry or agitated during their meeting. Abu Zaida told them Sinwar had been completely calm.
The disclosure adds new detail to an unofficial negotiating channel that Abu Zaida says operated between Hamas and Israel in an effort to advance a prisoner exchange.
Abu Zaida, a former Palestinian Authority minister and former prisoner in Israel, said the channel began in March 2022, when senior Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad approached him and asked for his help after negotiations had been stalled for more than seven years.
Before agreeing, Abu Zaida said, he asked Hamad to confirm that he had Sinwar’s authorization. Hamad replied that he had the approval of “Abu Ibrahim,” Sinwar’s nom de guerre.
The channel subsequently moved from broad discussions to exchanges of names and prisoner lists, Abu Zaida said. Contacts continued from September 2022 until September 2023, alternating between periods of progress, breakdowns and renewed negotiations.
During a July 2022 meeting with Sinwar, attended by Hamad and senior Hamas official Rawhi Mushtaha, Abu Zaida said he asked what Hamas considered its principal demands.
According to Abu Zaida, Sinwar described the proposed exchange as a “humanitarian deal” and demanded the release of women, minors and prisoners who had been rearrested after being freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit exchange, along with priority for sick prisoners and long-serving inmates.
Abu Zaida said he later met then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and conveyed Hamas’ position directly to him. Previous reporting has also said the warning from Sinwar reached Bar on Sept. 15, 2023.
Then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
He said he told Bar that Sinwar would not accept an agreement that failed to address longtime prisoners or maintained Israel’s opposition to freeing Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis or serving lengthy sentences.
On the Israeli side, Abu Zaida said, officials discussed a series of possible measures for Gaza as part of an agreement, including permitting more Gazans to work in Israel, rehabilitating electricity infrastructure and advancing reconstruction and building projects.
Abu Zaida said the Sept. 14 meeting was ultimately his final encounter with Sinwar as part of the back channel. He returned to Gaza on Oct. 5 and planned to meet Sinwar again on Oct. 8.
Instead, Hamas launched its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Abu Zaida said the precise meaning of Sinwar’s reference to an “earthquake” and to putting his “cards on the table” remains unresolved.
In the end, he said, the cards Sinwar spoke of were not placed on the negotiating table, but “on the table of war.”