PEACEMAKER IN CHIEF

Donald Trump's team was instrumental in the ceasefire agreed between ISRAEL and HAMAS. Although the deal does not address the future governance of Gaza, experts on both sides told Newsweek his administration will play a critical role in shaping this, too

- TOM O'CONNOR and ELLIE COOK

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SOARED INTO HIS second nonconsecutive term at the White House on the crest of a temporary ceasefire deal that has the potential to put an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict ravaging the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

Trump repeatedly took credit for the win throughout the pomp and circumstance of his inauguration day. He argued that outgoing President Joe Biden had failed to secure the proposal first outlined last May until the incoming administration's influential Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, scored a breakthrough at the negotiating table just days before the presidential hand over. Israeli sources have also testified to Newsweek the decisive role played by the Trump team, whose presence appeared to push all sides, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, across the finish line.

Having also overseen the extension of a truce between Israel and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon after less than a week in office, Trump has made early strides toward enforcing his declared "peace through strength" doctrine. Yet the new administration, already embroiled in a series of other sweeping policy initiatives at home and across the Western Hemisphere, must double down on its Middle East maneuvers to navigate an even more precarious playing field if it seeks to sustain the calm and potentially expand upon this hard-won diplomatic victory.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu did not want to say no to Trump, the Qataris and Egyptians wanted to show they could deliver for him, and they very likely persuaded Hamas that it was in its interests to have a ceasefire now because Trump would not want the war to resume once he was in office," veteran U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross, who serves today as a distinguished fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Newsweek.