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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like yet another escalation that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, declared by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

That represents a goal that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

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

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

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

Trump often states that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by actions.

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

When Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the room to exert more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, 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 attacked against Syria's military in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, the US president urged his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's military actions in private.

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

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to 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 United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

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

If the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability 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 handle relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal