Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed US President Donald Trump of plans to strike Hamas leaders in Qatar before the attack was carried out, which contradicts the White House claims that it was only notified after missiles had been launched, an Axios exclusive revealed on Monday.

According to Israeli officials with direct knowledge who spoke to the online outlet, Netanyahu called Trump around 8 am Washington time (1200GMT) Tuesday to brief him on the impending strike, and initial reports of explosions in Doha emerged 51 minutes later.

The White House maintained it was informed after missiles were airborne, claiming that Trump had no opportunity to object. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Axios that the US military informed Trump of "Israel’s" attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, and he immediately directed his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform Qatar.

Israeli officials tell another story

Israeli officials, while acknowledging he had limited time to halt the operation, suggested that the White House was aware earlier, with a senior Israeli official asserting that Trump knew about the strike before the missiles were launched and didn’t say no.

Another senior Israeli official said that the US was informed at the political level “well in advance” and that “if Trump had wanted to stop it, he could have,” while insisting that the missiles had not yet been launched during the Trump-Netanyahu conversation. The two officials further claimed that "Israel" would have canceled the strike had Trump objected.

Neither US nor Israeli officials confirmed or denied the Axios report.

A ricochet step

Netanyahu has consistently described the military operation in Qatar as an independent decision made solely by "Israel", a position he reiterated while standing alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a joint press conference on Monday.

The Israeli airstrikes have ultimately backfired on "Israel", failing to achieve their objective of eliminating Hamas' leadership, all while building up more pressure against the occupation and further isolating it. The airstrike led to Qatar pulling out of its mediation role in the ceasefire negotiations, at a time when Hamas had been moving toward a deal and a potential breakthrough was on the horizon, according to an Israeli official.

Additionally, the strike came at a time when Trump was hoping to expand normalization deals in the Middle East. Instead, Arab and Islamic leaders at the Doha summit competed to decry "Israel" and its actions, while the Egyptian president warned Israelis that Netanyahu is endangering current and future normalization agreements in the region.