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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like another intensification that drove the hope of a ceasefire further away.

The attack on September 9 breached the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

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

That represents a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for almost 24 months.

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

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

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

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

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

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

The president likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader ordered American aircraft to strike the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed Trump the leeway to exert more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

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

Underneath this was the president'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, while Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted the president to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. The president provided US armed support to Israeli operations in Iran. However an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, moving him closer to 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 decisive moment which motivated the president to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year helped shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, the president was present nearby as the prime minister personally called the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and helped them persuade the group to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have faced, and he seems to handle relatively successfully."

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

Now Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand detainees held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

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

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal