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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar seemed like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

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

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

But if this deal stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump moved the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under global norms.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, Trump directed US bombers to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those visible shows of support may have given the president the room to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's envoy, his representative, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, Trump urged his counterpart to change course.

The leader exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath 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 Biden took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's solid Republican base gave him more room to act.

In the end, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, during 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 greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. The president provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister himself called Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to pressure the government 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 evidently occurred was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says an analyst of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his timing, 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 reality that Trump is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was leverage that Trump used to his benefit, he adds.

Now Israel has agreed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, taken during the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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