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At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like another intensification that drove the prospect of a ceasefire further away.

This strike on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, declared by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

But 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 played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of backing may have given the president the room to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump displayed a degree of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Biden's connection with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

His administration's "bear hug approach" argued that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to enable it to influence the country's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took endangered dividing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had allowed Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israeli operations in Iran. However an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. This year, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months helped shift his perspective, according to an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader received repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump sat nearby as the prime minister personally called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that many previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump appears to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu personally was leverage that he employed to his benefit, he adds.

Now Israel has committed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal