Netanyahu informed Trump before Doha attack: Axios

WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed US President Donald Trump that Israel planned to attack Hamas leaders in Qatar before last week’s strike occurred, Axios reported on Monday, citing Israeli officials.

The bombshell revelations comes as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi on Monday said, “We expect our strategic partners in the US to use their influence on Israel for it to stop this behaviour – we really do expect that.”

He expressed this hope after the Arab-Islamic summit on Monday discussed the aftermath of Doha attack and called for reviewing diplomatic and economic ties with Israel.

TRUMP DIDN’T OBJECT

The White House has said it was notified only after missiles were in the air, giving Trump no opportunity to oppose the strike but the White House knew earlier, even if the timeline to stop it would have been tight, Axios reported, citing seven Israeli officials.

The reporter who broke the story said that “Israel would have called off the strike if Trump had objected to it”. There was sufficient time to cancel the strike if necessary, he added.

Also on Monday,  US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Monday that Washington would provide “unwavering support” to Israel in achieving its goals in Gaza as he called for the eradication of Hamas.

Read more: US promises ‘unwavering support’ to Israel in Gaza goals

At the same time, he again dismissed and ridiculed the planned recognition of Palestinian state as France and Saudi Arabia — two key US allies — are pushing for materialising the two-solution.

“They’re largely symbolic — they have really no impact whatsoever about bringing us any closer to a Palestinian state. The only impact they actually have is it makes Hamas feel more emboldened,” Rubio said.