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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of peace further away.

The attack on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

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

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

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

Trump's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

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

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his first presidential term, Trump relocated the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, Trump directed American aircraft to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of backing may have given Trump the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in the summer, including hitting a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the US had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

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

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, the president sat nearby as the prime minister himself called Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that lot of earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister himself was an advantage that Trump employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Now the Israeli government has committed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

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

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