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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar seemed like another escalation that drove the prospect of peace out of reach.

The attack on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

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

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

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

But if this agreement stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that escaped Biden and his administration.

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

However, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the control of either man.

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been backed up by deeds.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered American aircraft to strike the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have allowed Trump the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, even bombing a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" argued that the US had to support the nation openly in order to enable it to influence the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout his term, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to issue an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

Trump had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to apply maximum pressure 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 UAE. He began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

If Trump's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence the government to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and helped them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that many earlier administrations have faced, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister personally was leverage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

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

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

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