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

The attack on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an American ally and risked expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

Yet if this agreement holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that escaped Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this success.

But, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in June, Trump directed US bombers to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have allowed Trump the leeway to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in July, even bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader exhibited a level of will 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 American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" argued that the US had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's military actions in private.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas his successor's solid Republican base provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of 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 Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to the country on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, Trump sat close as the prime minister personally called 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 region.

If the president's alliance with his counterpart gave him the ability to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and Trump appears to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, taken during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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