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At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like another escalation that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an American ally and risked expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

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

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

But if this deal holds, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that escaped Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

However, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

During his first presidential term, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under international law.

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

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the room to exert more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of a number of captives.

When Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump urged his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" argued that the US had to support the nation 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 deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

Trump had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He lent American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. Recently, Trump also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump was present close as the prime minister personally called Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming the president's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," says an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have faced, and he seems to handle with some success."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister personally was leverage that he employed to his advantage, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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