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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that drove the prospect 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 seemed to be in ruins.

However, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, declared by Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

This is a objective that he, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

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

The president's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

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

The president often states that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his first presidential term, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, Trump directed US bombers to target the nation's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to change course.

Trump exhibited a level of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the US had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took risked dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

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

Business History Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the ability to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and helped them convince the group to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," says an analyst of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have faced, and he seems to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is much more popular in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he used to his benefit, he adds.

Now Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

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

An end to the war, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal