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

The attack on September 9 breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

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

That represents a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

Yet if this deal holds, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

However, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors involved beyond the control of either man.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his first presidential term, the president 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 position under global norms.

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

These visible shows of backing may have allowed Trump the room to exert more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syria's military in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, Trump urged his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a degree of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was consistently more tenuous.

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

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took endangered dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led the president to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

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 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.

Several administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year helped shift his perspective, according to an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present close as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

If Trump's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of earlier administrations have faced, and he seems to do with some success."

The fact that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was leverage that Trump employed to his benefit, he adds.

Now Israel has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed 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 caused the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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