🔗 Share this article

At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Doha seemed like another intensification that drove the prospect of peace further away.

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

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

However, it turned out to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

That represents a goal that he, and President Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

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

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

Trump's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Arab world seem to have contributed in this breakthrough.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors involved beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under global norms.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have given the president the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the US had to support the nation publicly in order to allow it to influence the country's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own domestic support, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

In the end, internal considerations or individual ties may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

Trump had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months 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, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump sat nearby as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the ability to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump appears to do with some success."

The fact that Trump is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister himself was an advantage that Trump used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Now Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken in the original 7 October assault, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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