How Trump Achieved a Gaza Strip Breakthrough That Escaped Biden

Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar appeared like another intensification that drove the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

Yet if this deal stands, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

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

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements at play beyond the influence of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

Trump often states that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of backing may have given Trump the room to apply more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, including hitting a Christian church, the US president pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

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

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the leader to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the UAE, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister himself called the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to do with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister personally was an advantage that Trump employed to his benefit, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

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