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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like another escalation that drove the hope of a ceasefire further away.

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

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this success.

But, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which 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 White House". And these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those visible shows of support may have given the president the room to exert more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, the US president urged his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to influence the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to act.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. The war had to end.

Trump had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have told the press that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year helped shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming Trump's relationship with his counterpart gave him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them persuade Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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

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

Currently Israel has agreed to releasing over a thousand detainees held in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured during the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of over 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