🔗 Share this article

Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar seemed like yet another escalation that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

However, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, declared by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

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

It is just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

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

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

After Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the room to apply more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in July, even hitting a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" held that the US had to support the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Beneath 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. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated 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. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. This year, he also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader received consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, the president was present nearby as the prime minister himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have faced, and he seems to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was leverage that he used to his benefit, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

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

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