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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire further away.

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

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

That represents a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

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

Yet if this deal holds, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his second term - 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 many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

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

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under international law.

When Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of backing may have allowed Trump the leeway to exert more influence on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, his representative, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, even bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a level of determination 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 directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Biden's connection with the Israeli administration was consistently more strained.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" held that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to allow it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took endangered dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to end.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in Iran. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

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

His normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump was present close as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

If the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to influence the government to reach an agreement, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and helped them convince the group to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed 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 do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump appears to do with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that Trump used to his benefit, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has committed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured in the initial October 7 assault, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal