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

The attack on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an American ally and risked widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

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

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

But if this agreement stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this success.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the influence of either man.

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

When Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed American aircraft to strike the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have given Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, the US president pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted the president to issue an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

The US leader had allowed Israel a significant latitude in the territory. The president lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, he also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, 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.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump sat nearby as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to influence Israel to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them convince the group to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman 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 challenge that many previous presidents have faced, and Trump appears to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister himself was leverage that he employed to his benefit, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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