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Initially, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that drove the hope of peace further away.

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

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

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

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

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance 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 Biden and his administration.

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

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

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

In public, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of support may have given the president the leeway to apply more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's envoy, his representative, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in the summer, even hitting a Christian church, the US president urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a degree of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to embrace the nation publicly in order to enable it to influence the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's solid Republican base provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

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

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, led the president to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have told media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, Trump also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he received consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, the president was present nearby as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

If Trump's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and helped them convince the group to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," notes an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of earlier administrations have struggled with, and he seems to handle with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, the expert continues.

Now Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured in the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the conflict, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal