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

Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar seemed like another intensification that pushed the hope of peace further away.

The attack on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened expanding the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, announced by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

That represents a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for almost 24 months.

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

But if this agreement stands, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

However, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been backed up 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 Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, the US leader ordered US bombers to strike the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, his representative, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a Christian church, the US president urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" held that the US had to embrace the nation openly in order to allow it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led the president to issue an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have told the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the leader to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. This year, he also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where he heard repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump was present close as Netanyahu personally called Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's relationship with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump gained leverage 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 achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump appears to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that he employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Now Israel has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the war, which has led to the destruction of Gaza and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal