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At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that drove the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an US partner and risked expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, declared by Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

This is a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

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

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this breakthrough.

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

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country 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 global norms.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader directed American aircraft to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, the US president pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the US had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led Trump to issue an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

Trump had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent US armed support to Israeli operations in Iran. But an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment 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. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

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

His visits 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. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present close as the prime minister personally called Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured 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 developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to do with some success."

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

Now Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has led to the destruction of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal