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

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it proved to be a key moment that culminated in a deal, announced by Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

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

It is just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

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

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this success.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump often states that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, Trump moved 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 against international law, the view under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have allowed the president the room to exert more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in July, including bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured Netanyahu to change course.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was consistently more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" argued that the United States had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. The president lent American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have told the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

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

His visits devoted in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months helped change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming the president's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and helped them persuade the group to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and Trump appears to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that Trump is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister himself was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, taken during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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