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At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Doha seemed like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

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

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

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

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this success.

But, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

During his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have given the president the room to exert more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, even bombing a Christian church, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a level of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more strained.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" held that the US had to embrace Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike 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 media outlets 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. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump sat close as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of influential Arab states in the region.

If the president's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he appears to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu himself was leverage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss 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