🔗 Share this article

Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like yet another escalation that drove the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

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

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

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

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

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world seem to have contributed in this success.

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

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, Trump moved the US embassy in the country from its former location 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 bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump directed US bombers to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of backing may have given Trump the room to apply more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, even hitting a Christian church, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" held that the US had to embrace the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, while Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to act.

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

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed Israel a significant latitude in the territory. The president lent American military might to Israeli operations in Iran. However an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, moving him closer to 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 president to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump sat close as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure 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 clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have faced, and Trump seems to handle with some success."

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

Now Israel has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

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

A conclusion to the war, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal