The Way Trump Achieved a Gaza Major Step Which Escaped Joe Biden

At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like another intensification that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

That represents a objective 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 disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

Yet if this deal holds, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world seem to have contributed in this success.

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

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under international law.

When Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have given Trump the room to exert more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a place of worship, the US president urged his counterpart to change course.

Trump displayed a level of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" held that the US had to support the nation publicly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's military actions in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took risked dividing his own domestic support, whereas 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 simple fact that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

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

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits 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. The US president did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, the president was present close as the prime minister personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the ability to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader gained influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he appears to handle with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister himself was an advantage that Trump used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Now Israel has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the destruction of Gaza and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal