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Initially, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, declared by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

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

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world seem to have contributed in this success.

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

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

The president likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under global norms.

When Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to apply more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a place of worship, the US president pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader displayed a level of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

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

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, every one of its key military goals 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 the prime minister. The war had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the leader to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited 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 first term.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but visited the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's relationship with his counterpart provided him the room to influence the government to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

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

Now Israel has committed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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