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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like another escalation that drove the prospect of peace out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

That represents a goal that he, and President Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

But if this deal holds, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that eluded Joe Biden and his administration.

The president's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

But, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

During his first presidential term, Trump relocated the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have given Trump the leeway to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, the US president pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the United States had to embrace the nation openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

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

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have told media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to exert maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where he received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president sat nearby as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart gave him the ability to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"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 many previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump appears to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister himself was leverage that he employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to freeing over a thousand detainees held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, taken during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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