New details have emerged regarding the Egyptian aircraft that touched down in Israel roughly a week and a half before the October 7 massacre. Contrary to widespread claims circulating in recent days, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel was not aboard the aircraft that landed at Ben Gurion Airport on September 26, 2023, according to a report broadcast Wednesday evening on Kan News.
According to military correspondent Itay Blumental, the executive jet operated by Egyptian charter carrier Smart Aviation carried two private businessmen traveling from Egypt to Israel. The aircraft landed at Ben Gurion Airport around 10:00 AM and departed back to Cairo roughly an hour later with no passengers on board. Multiple sources familiar with the flight’s manifest said both passengers entered the country via the Fattal VIP terminal, which regularly serves private aviation flights. Authorities described the arrival as a routine charter flight for business figures returning from Egypt, rather than an official diplomatic delegation or security-related visit. QAS managed ground handling for the turnaround at Ben Gurion Airport before the empty jet left Israeli airspace.
While the specific names of the two travelers have not been released publicly due to aviation privacy laws, their identities are fully registered with competent authorities, including the Population and Immigration Authority, the Ministry of Transport, the Fattal VIP terminal, and the charter company. The revelation follows intense public debate surrounding the arrival of the Egyptian flight shortly before Hamas’s cross-border assault. Last week, Maj. Gen. (res.) Avi Gil, former military secretary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed that an Egyptian aircraft had indeed landed in Israel days before the massacre, sparking accusations and speculation regarding who authorized or participated in the visit.
The newly disclosed flight logs confirm that the aircraft did not carry Egypt’s intelligence minister and that the travel had no security or government mandate. While this directly refutes claims that Abbas Kamel landed in Israel on that flight, it does not rule out other high-level diplomatic or security contacts between Israeli and Egyptian officials in the period leading up to the attack.