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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like another intensification that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

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

This is a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

But if this deal holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that eluded Joe Biden and his administration.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this success.

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

In public, 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 Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, Trump relocated the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the view under global norms.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump ordered American aircraft to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These public demonstrations of support may have given the president the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a level of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

His administration's "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to support the nation openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

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

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. The president provided American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have told media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader'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 Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where he heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, the president was present nearby as the prime minister personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

If Trump's relationship with his counterpart provided him the ability to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and assisted them convince the group to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he used to his benefit, he adds.

Currently Israel has agreed to releasing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, living and dead, captured in the original 7 October assault, which caused 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 over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal