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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that pushed the hope of peace further away.

The attack on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities 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, announced by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

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

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

But if this deal stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

Trump's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

However, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the influence of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

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

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader directed American aircraft to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of support may have given the president the room to exert more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a Christian church, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" held that the US had to embrace the nation publicly in order to enable it to influence the nation's military actions in private.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout his term, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Gain Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led the president to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He provided American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump sat close as the prime minister personally called Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

Assuming Trump's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the ability to pressure the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince the group to agree to the arrangement.

"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 Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to handle with some success."

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

Currently the Israeli government has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, taken in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the war, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal