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

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

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, announced by Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

That represents a goal that he, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

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

Yet if this agreement holds, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that escaped Joe Biden and his administration.

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors involved beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under global norms.

When Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the room to exert more influence on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, even bombing a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" held that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's military actions in private.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own domestic support, while his successor's solid Republican base provided him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was not ready to make peace.

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

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

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

The US leader had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

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

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, he also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

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

The time devoted in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months helped change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president was present close as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

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

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he appears to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister personally was leverage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to freeing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the conflict, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal