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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like another escalation that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

Instead, it proved to be a key moment that culminated in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is 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 specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

But if this agreement holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that escaped Biden and his administration.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

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

During his first presidential term, Trump moved the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under international law.

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

Those visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the room to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, even bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" held that the US had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to influence the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

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

The US leader had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. The president lent American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success 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 visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

If the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to influence the government to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and helped them persuade the group to agree to the arrangement.

"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.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

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

Currently the Israeli government has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, living and dead, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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