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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like another escalation that drove the prospect of peace out of reach.

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

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that he, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

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

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world seem to have contributed in this success.

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, Trump moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under global norms.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump displayed a level of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was consistently more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the United States had to support the nation publicly in order to enable it to influence the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to manoeuvre.

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

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

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

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of earlier administrations have faced, and Trump seems to do with some success."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was leverage that Trump used to his benefit, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal