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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha appeared like yet another escalation that drove the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

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

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

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

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed American aircraft to strike the nation's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of backing may have given the president the leeway to exert more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

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

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's solid Republican base gave him more room to act.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. The president lent American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where he heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump sat close as the prime minister personally called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

If Trump's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the ability 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 agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader 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 timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he appears to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to releasing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

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