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Initially, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the prospect of peace further away.

This strike on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

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

That represents a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

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

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

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

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

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

The president likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under international law.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader directed American aircraft to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have given Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel attacked against Syria's military in July, even bombing a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a level of will and insistence on an Israel's leader 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 they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the US had to support the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. The war had to end.

Trump had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. He lent US armed support to Israeli operations in Iran. But an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to exert maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

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

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu personally phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of earlier administrations have faced, and Trump seems to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is much more popular in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he used to his advantage, he adds.

Now Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the conflict, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal