The Way Trump Secured a Gaza Strip Major Step That Eluded Biden

Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Doha seemed like yet another escalation that pushed the prospect of peace out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked expanding the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

That represents a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

Trump's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called him as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have allowed the president the room to exert more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in the summer, including hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader displayed a degree of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's connection with the Israeli administration was consistently more strained.

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

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led the president to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. The president lent US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit Israel on this regional tour but visited the UAE, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump sat close as the prime minister personally called the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

If Trump's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence the government to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he appears to do with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that he used to his benefit, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to freeing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from the strip.

The group will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, taken in the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the conflict, which has resulted in the devastation of Gaza and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal