🔗 Share this article

Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar seemed like another escalation that drove the hope of peace further away.

The attack on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an US partner and risked widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

That represents a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

But if this deal stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

However, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

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

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in June, Trump ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of support may have given Trump the room to exert more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, pressured 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 the summer, including hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" argued that the US had to support the nation openly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure 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 deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits 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 visit the country on this regional tour but visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, Trump sat close as Netanyahu himself called the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that lot of earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to do with some success."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that Trump used to his benefit, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal