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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha seemed like another escalation that pushed the prospect of peace further away.

This strike on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

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

That represents a objective that he, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

But if this deal holds, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that escaped Joe 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 breakthrough.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the influence of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These public demonstrations of backing may have allowed the president the room to apply more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in July, even bombing a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" argued that the US had to support the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition 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 room to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, led the president to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

Trump had allowed 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 separate issue completely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader received consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

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

Assuming Trump's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to influence Israel to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and he seems to handle with some success."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister himself was leverage that he employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has committed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the war, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal