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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha appeared like another escalation that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

However, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

That represents a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

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

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world seem to have contributed in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under global norms.

After Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the room to exert more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, including bombing a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the US had to embrace the nation publicly in order to enable it to moderate the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took endangered dividing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

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

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

Trump had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have told media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he received repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump sat close as the prime minister personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that many previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump appears to do with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has committed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal