The Way Donald Trump Secured a Gaza Strip Breakthrough That Eluded Joe Biden

At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like another intensification that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire further away.

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an American ally and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

That represents a objective that he, and President Joe Biden previously, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

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

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

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

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described him as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his first presidential term, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under global norms.

When Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to change course.

Trump displayed a level of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the US had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to influence the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout his term, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He lent US armed support to Israeli operations in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, according to an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump sat nearby as Netanyahu himself called Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

If the president's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence the government to reach an agreement, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and helped them persuade Hamas to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that many previous presidents have faced, and he seems to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was leverage that Trump used to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal