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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Qatar seemed like another escalation that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

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

This is a objective that he, and President Joe Biden previously, had pursued for almost 24 months.

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

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

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his first presidential term, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under global norms.

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

These public demonstrations of support may have given Trump the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, even bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the US had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to moderate the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's solid Republican base gave him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

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

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israeli operations in Iran. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure 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. He began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he received consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was leverage that Trump employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

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

Hamas will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal