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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Doha seemed like another intensification that drove the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

This is a objective that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had sought for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

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

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

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

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump often states that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under international law.

After Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of support may have given Trump the room to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, his representative, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a Christian church, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

Trump displayed a level of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was consistently more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" argued that the US had to support Israel openly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, during Biden's presidency, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have told media outlets that this was a decisive moment which motivated the leader to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the UAE, 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 was present close as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

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

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," 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 desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that many previous presidents have faced, and Trump appears to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured during the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

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