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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar seemed like yet another intensification that pushed the prospect of peace out of reach.

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

That represents a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

It is just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

But if this agreement holds, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that escaped Biden and his administration.

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, Trump moved the US embassy in the country from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump ordered US bombers to strike the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have given the president the leeway to apply more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, including hitting a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader exhibited a level of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" argued that the US had to support Israel openly in order to enable it to influence the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. The president provided American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president 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 Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as 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 contributed to shift his perspective, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, the president was present close as Netanyahu himself phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

If Trump's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to influence the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and helped them convince Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have faced, and Trump appears to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister himself was leverage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from the strip.

The group will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured in the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal