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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar seemed like yet another escalation that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

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

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

In public, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the view under global norms.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of backing may have given Trump the leeway to exert more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israel attacked against Syria's military in July, including hitting a Christian church, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" held that the United States had to support the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

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

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, 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 UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president was present close as Netanyahu himself called the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the ability to influence the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and helped them persuade Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of earlier administrations have faced, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was leverage that he used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from the strip.

The group will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has resulted in the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal