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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that drove the prospect of peace further away.

The attack on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

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

This is a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

This marks 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 holds, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that escaped Joe Biden and his administration.

The president's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this breakthrough.

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

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump often states that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump relocated the US embassy in the country from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under global norms.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to apply more pressure on Israel in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "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 the Israeli administration was always more strained.

His administration's "close embrace approach" argued that the US had to support Israel openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's war conduct in private.

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

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, led Trump to issue an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to end.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months helped change his thinking, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the prime minister signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and Trump appears to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that Trump employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

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

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

An end to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal