The Way Donald Trump Achieved a Gaza Major Step That Eluded Joe Biden

Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, announced by Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

This is a goal that Trump, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

Yet if this deal holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this success.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors involved beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump often states that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

During his initial time in office, Trump relocated the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was consistently more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" argued that the US had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, during Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

Trump had given Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, Trump was present close as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

If Trump's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the ability to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and helped them persuade Hamas to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump appears to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is much more popular in the nation than the prime minister himself was leverage that Trump employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken in the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal