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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that drove the prospect of peace further away.

The attack on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an US partner and risked widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

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

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

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

But if this deal holds, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors involved beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, Trump relocated the US embassy 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 view under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, the US leader ordered American aircraft to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a level of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was consistently more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the United States had to support the nation openly in order to allow it to influence the country's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked dividing his own political backing, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. The president lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

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 visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump sat close as the prime minister himself phoned Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming Trump's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," says an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he seems to handle with some success."

The fact that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu himself was leverage that he employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal