Reports that President Donald Trump had been briefed by Israel ahead of a strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar are not surprising, former National Security Council chief of staff Fred Fleitz told Newsmax on Tuesday.
Israel launched the strike earlier in the day, officials said, further widening its campaign against the terrorist group as negotiations over ending the war in the Gaza Strip appear stalemated.
Trump reportedly signed off on the Israeli strike — codenamed "Atzeret HaDin" (Hebrew for Day of Judgment) — in the sovereign nation of Qatar, a key Middle East ally and peace mediator.
"Traditionally, if Israel would do something like this, it would inform the U.S. as a courtesy," Fleitz told Newsmax's "National Report" co-hosts Shaun Kraisman and Emma Rechenberg.
"Now, it didn't inform the Biden administration because it was so untrustworthy. It knew Biden officials would leak this. So it wouldn't surprise me if the Israeli government informed President Trump in advance."
The former CIA analyst said the strike, aimed at Hamas leaders living in luxury in Qatar while their fellow Palestinians in Gaza suffered, was not the first time Israel has undertaken such a "bold attack like this."
"You remember a couple of years ago, there was a Hamas leader who went to an event in Tehran, and Israel killed the leader, that leader there, which was really stunning," Fleitz said. "So Israel is capable of doing this.
"I heard there were at least 10 explosions. This may not have been just one airstrike. It may have been bombings in addition to airstrikes. ... Israel intelligence is very good. They knew where these Hamas leaders were."
Fleitz said the strike shows that Israel intends to follow through on its plans to "kill every Hamas leader."
"I always thought an attack like this was possible," he said. "Israel warned after the Oct. 7 massacre they would hunt down and kill every Hamas leader.
"Now, U.S. and Israeli officials have been telling the Qatari government for a long time to expel these leaders from the country because they're harboring terrorists. The Qatar government wouldn't do it. Hamas has shown no interest in negotiating peace.
"Critics of Trump are going to claim that Hamas is in the process of evaluating President Trump's new peace offer. No it wasn't. It made indications it was not going to accept this deal. I think Israel's patience ran out, and it waited for a time when Hamas leaders had become complacent, thinking Israel would never do this."
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Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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