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At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like yet another escalation that pushed the prospect of peace out of reach.

This strike on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

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

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

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

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this success.

However, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also elements at play beyond the control of either man.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

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

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been matched by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed US bombers to strike the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have given Trump the leeway to apply more pressure on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syria's military in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a level of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" held that the US had to support the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted the president to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump sat close as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

If Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and helped them persuade the group to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump appears to handle with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was leverage that Trump used to his benefit, he adds.

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

Hamas will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal