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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like another escalation that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

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

This is a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

But if this deal stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that escaped Biden and his administration.

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Arab world seem to have contributed in this success.

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

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

In public, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under global norms.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

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

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, even bombing a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

Biden's connection with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the US had to support the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump sat nearby as the prime minister personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the room to influence the government to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and helped them convince the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and he seems to do with some success."

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

Now the Israeli government has committed to releasing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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