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Initially, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha appeared like yet another escalation that drove the prospect of peace further away.

This strike on September 9 violated the sovereignty of an US partner and risked widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

However, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

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

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

Yet if this deal stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this success.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the influence of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

In public, Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

During his first presidential term, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the room to apply more influence on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, including hitting a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader displayed a level of will and insistence 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 directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held 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 nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took endangered fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's solid Republican base provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led the president to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatari territory 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 turning point which galvanised the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, the kingdom and the state where he heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister personally phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

If Trump's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump 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 he employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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