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

This strike on September 9 breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a key moment that culminated in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

This is a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

But if this agreement holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

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

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

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

During his first presidential term, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under global norms.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed American aircraft to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have allowed Trump the room to exert more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a Christian church, Trump urged his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling 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 "bear hug approach" held that the US had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move Biden took endangered dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's solid Republican base provided him more room to act.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, all its key military goals had been achieved.

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 Trump to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to exert maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His 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.

The time devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he received repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, the president was present close as Netanyahu personally called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have faced, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to freeing over a thousand detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the war, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal