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

The attack on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

However, 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 goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

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

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

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the influence of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been backed up by deeds.

During his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of support may have given the president the leeway to exert more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of a number of captives.

When Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, including hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" argued that the United States had to embrace the nation publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered fracturing his own political backing, whereas his successor's solid Republican base provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president lent US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, 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 decisive moment which motivated the president to exert 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 United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months helped change his thinking, according to an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, the president was present close as the prime minister personally called Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

If the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he appears to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister personally was leverage that Trump used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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