The Way Donald Trump Achieved a Gaza Breakthrough That Eluded Joe Biden

At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar appeared like yet another intensification that drove the hope of peace out of reach.

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

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

However, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a deal, declared by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that he, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

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

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

However, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

After Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump directed American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the room to exert more pressure on Israel in private. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of some hostages.

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

Trump displayed a degree of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was consistently more strained.

His administration's "bear hug approach" argued that the United States had to support Israel openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move Biden took risked fracturing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, led Trump to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

Trump had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

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

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year helped change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump sat close as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to influence the government to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince the group to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump seems to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister personally was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal