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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha seemed like another intensification that pushed 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 in ruins.

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

This is a objective that he, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

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

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

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

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

In public, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by deeds.

During his first presidential term, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump 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 apply more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syria's military in July, including hitting a place of worship, Trump urged his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" argued that the US had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, led the president to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, 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 galvanised the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, the president sat nearby as the prime minister personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he appears to handle with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister himself was leverage that he used to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured in the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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