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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that drove the hope of a ceasefire further away.

This strike on September 9 breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

Instead, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

That represents a objective that he, and President Joe Biden previously, had sought for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

But if this agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this success.

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

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

During his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under global norms.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have given the president the room to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a level of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

Biden's connection with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" argued that the United States had to support Israel publicly in order to enable it to influence the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took risked dividing his own political backing, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

In the end, 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.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader heard repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump sat close as Netanyahu himself called the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to influence the government to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and helped them persuade Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to do with some success."

The fact that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, taken in the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has resulted in the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal