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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like another escalation that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an US partner and risked widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

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

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

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

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this success.

However, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed American aircraft to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israel attacked against Syria's military in the summer, even bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a level of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was consistently more tenuous.

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the United States had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to influence the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took endangered dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or individual ties may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure 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 ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He provided American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel 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 conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and helped them convince Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability 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 seems to handle with some success."

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

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal