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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar seemed like another escalation that pushed the hope of a ceasefire further away.

The attack on September 9 violated the sovereignty of an US partner and risked widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, announced by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that he, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

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

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

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

In public, Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president often states that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the view under international law.

When Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed US bombers to strike the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have allowed Trump the room to exert more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israel attacked against Syria's military in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling 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.

His administration's "bear hug approach" held that the United States had to embrace Israel 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 Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked dividing his own political backing, while Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have told media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. This year, he also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader heard repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, the president sat close as Netanyahu personally phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

If Trump's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump gained influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to handle with some success."

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

Now the Israeli government has agreed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

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