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

Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like another intensification that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

That represents a goal that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

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

The president's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the influence of both leaders.

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

In public, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have given Trump the leeway to apply more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of a number of captives.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader displayed a level of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Biden's connection with the Israeli administration was consistently more strained.

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the United States had to embrace the nation publicly in order to enable it to moderate the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Business History Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had allowed Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided American military might to Israeli operations in Iran. However an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have told the press that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the leader to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister himself called the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's relationship with his counterpart provided him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and he appears to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he employed to his advantage, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from the strip.

The group will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal