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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha seemed like another intensification that drove the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

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

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

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

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this success.

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the control 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 better friend, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those visible shows of support may have given the president the leeway to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's envoy, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of a number of captives.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in the summer, even bombing a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" held that the US had to embrace the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered fracturing his own political backing, whereas his successor's solid Republican base provided him more flexibility to act.

In the end, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led the president to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

Trump had given Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months helped shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, the president was present nearby as the prime minister himself called the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's relationship with his counterpart provided him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and helped them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he seems to do with some success."

The fact that the president is much more popular in the nation than the prime minister personally was leverage that he employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

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

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the war, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal