How Donald Trump Achieved a Gaza Strip Major Step That Escaped Joe Biden

At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar seemed like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

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

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

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

This is a goal that Trump, and President Joe Biden previously, had sought for almost 24 months.

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

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

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this success.

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

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

Trump often states that the nation has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader 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 initial time in office, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under global norms.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

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

After Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in July, including bombing a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" held that the US had to embrace Israel openly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's war conduct 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 Gaza War. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's solid Republican base provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president lent American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have told media outlets that this was a decisive moment which motivated the leader to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. This year, he also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump appears to do with some success."

The fact that the president is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he employed to his advantage, he adds.

Now Israel has committed to freeing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will free all the captives still held, living and dead, captured during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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