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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that drove the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

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

This is a objective that he, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement holds, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

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

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors involved beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

In public, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under global norms.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, Trump ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those visible shows of backing may have given the president the leeway to apply more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, including hitting a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a level of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" argued that the US had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the country's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took endangered dividing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

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

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. He provided American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months helped shift his perspective, according to an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where the leader received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, the president was present nearby as the prime minister himself phoned Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming Trump's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and Trump appears to do relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the destruction of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal