By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was not informed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in advance about Israel’s attack in Qatar last week.
Trump’s comments came after an Axios report said that Netanyahu informed the U.S. president of the strike shortly ahead of time.
The Trump administration has said it was notified only after missiles were in the air, giving Trump no opportunity to oppose the strike. 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 on Tuesday, 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.
Trump has previously said he was not involved in Israel’s decision to strike Qatar.
He was asked on Monday 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.
Washington 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-defense after an October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants 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.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Additional reporting by Christian Martinez; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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