🔗 Share this article

At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Doha seemed like another escalation that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

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

That represents a objective that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued 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 worked out.

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

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

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under international law.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed American aircraft to target the nation's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of support may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, his representative, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of a number of captives.

When Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a place of worship, Trump urged his counterpart to change course.

The leader exhibited 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. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was consistently more strained.

His administration's "close embrace approach" held that the United States had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was the president's decades-long of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to act.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the president to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, the president was present close as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and helped them convince the group to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that many previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump appears to do relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that he employed to his advantage, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will free all the captives still held, living and dead, captured in the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

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