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Initially, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like yet another intensification that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

But if this agreement holds, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this success.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

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

Trump likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

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 abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have allowed Trump the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, even bombing a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" held that the US had to support the nation publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took endangered fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

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

Trump had allowed Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where he heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump sat close as the prime minister himself phoned 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 key Muslim nations in the region.

If Trump's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the ability to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in the nation than the prime minister himself was an advantage that he used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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