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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire further away.

The attack on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

However, it turned out to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, announced by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for almost 24 months.

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

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

The president's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

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

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

After Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

After Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, even bombing a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a degree of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" argued that the US had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government 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 devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to exert maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, Trump also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, the president sat nearby as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and helped them convince the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

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

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal