‘No, no…’: Donald Trump says Netanyahu didn't tell him about Israel's strike on Qatar in advance
US President Trump said he was not informed by Netanyahu in advance about the Israeli airstrike on Hamas leaders in Qatar.
Days after a report claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Donald Trump about the impending strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, the US president said on Monday that he was not informed in advance about the Qatar attack last week.
According to a report by Axiom, Benjamin Netanyahu had informed Donald Trump some 50 minutes before the attack.
Seven Israeli officials told Axios that the White House knew about the attack last Tuesday before missiles were launched. Shortly after the strike, Trump said the US was not given a meaningful warning of the Doha strike, that he tried but did not have time to convey a warning to Qatar, and that he was “very unhappy” about the incident.
Axios reported, citing Israeli officials, that the White House knew earlier, even if the timeline to stop the attack would have been tight.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike in Qatar, escalating its military action in the Middle East. The strike was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could further escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
On Monday, when he was asked if Netanyahu spoke to him directly to alert him that Israel would strike Hamas leaders in Qatar. "No, no, they didn't," Trump said.
Netanyahu's office reiterated after the Axios report that the attack was a “wholly independent” Israeli operation, news agency Reuters reported.
The US is an ally of both Israel and Qatar. Doha has been a mediator in trying to arrange a deal for a Gaza ceasefire.
Israel's assault on Gaza since October 2023 has killed tens of thousands of people, internally displaced Gaza's entire population, and set off a starvation crisis. Multiple rights experts and scholars say it amounts to genocide.
Israel denies allegations of genocide, calling its actions self-defence after an October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas terrorists in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage. Israel has also bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen during its war in Gaza.
(With inputs from Reuters)
