Passengers of Egyptian aircraft that landed in Israel before October 7 were businessmen - report

The report comes amid suspicion that Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Director Abbas Kamel was on board the flight, with Netanyahu denying having met with him at the time.

Two businessmen on a routine trip were the passengers of the Egyptian aircraft that landed in Israel on September 26, 2023, KAN News reported on Wednesday, citing several sources familiar with the matter.

The report comes amid suspicion that Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Director Abbas Kamel was on board the flight, which was first reported by The Atlantic on Friday.

According to the KAN report, the passengers entered Israel through the Fattal Terminal at Ben-Gurion Airport, and QAS provided ground services before the aircraft returned empty to Cairo.

KAN noted that the flight was not registered as official or security-related, and that the Transportation Ministry, Fattal Terminal, the Population and Immigration Authority, and an Egyptian charter company are all aware of the passengers' identities. However, the entities will not publish the names, in line with standard privacy practices.

The flight in question has come under scrutiny after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed earlier on Wednesday that an Egyptian aircraft had landed in Israel several days before the October 7 massacre.

Netanyahu denied meeting with Kamel in September 2023 and told KAN he was unaware of who the Egyptian intelligence chief met during the alleged trip.

"I want to know who he met. I don't know," said Netanyahu, claiming that whoever had met Kamel was trying to "pin it" on him.

Also on Wednesday, N12 News reported that Israel's security chiefs were unaware that Kamel had visited Israel in September 2023.

Netanyahu denies ever meeting Kamel despite PMO statement, photographic evidence

The prime minister said he had been attending a memorial ceremony for fallen IDF soldiers at the time, having further claimed in a Tuesday interview with Channel 14 that he had never met Kamel before.

"When does an intelligence chief come and speak to a head of state?" Netanyahu asked. "It hasn't happened to me once, OK? There's no such thing."

His claim contradicted official statements from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) that Netanyahu had met with Kamel in May 2021.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with Egyptian General Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and a delegation of senior officials headed by him at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem," the statement read.

Footage of the meeting was also published on the prime minister's official YouTube channel, while an official photograph of Netanyahu and Kamel shaking hands was published by the PMO alongside the statement.