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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that drove the hope of a ceasefire further away.

The attack on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

This is a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for nearly two years.

This marks just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

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

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this success.

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

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under international law.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to strike the nation's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of support may have given the president the leeway to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to an analyst 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 relationship with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

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

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own domestic support, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had allowed Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have informed the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain 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 Qatar where he received repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu personally called Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

If Trump's relationship with his counterpart provided him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have faced, and he seems to handle with some success."

The fact that the president is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was leverage that he employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, taken during the original 7 October assault, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

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