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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Qatar seemed like another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an American ally and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, declared by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that he, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

This marks just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement holds, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Joe Biden and his administration.

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president moved the US embassy in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under international law.

After Israel began its air strikes against Iran in June, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the nation's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have allowed the president the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a level of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" argued that the United States had to support Israel publicly in order to enable it to moderate the country's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led Trump to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the deal.

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

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of earlier administrations have faced, and he appears to do relatively successfully."

The fact that Trump is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister himself was leverage that he used to his advantage, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand detainees held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the war, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal