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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that drove the prospect of peace further away.

The attack on September 9 breached the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a deal, declared by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a goal 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 Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

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

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 success.

However, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

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

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, Trump directed US bombers to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more influence 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 return for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to change course.

Trump exhibited a level of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" argued that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

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

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during Biden's presidency, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to exert maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped 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 diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president was present nearby as the prime minister himself called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the ability to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader gained influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu himself was leverage that Trump employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

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

Hamas will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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