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Initially, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha seemed like yet another escalation that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

The attack on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

However, it proved 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 objective that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

But if this deal holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that escaped Joe Biden and his administration.

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this success.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that the nation has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed US bombers to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have given the president the room to apply more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in July, including hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the United States had to support the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took risked dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during his term, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. The president provided American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have informed media outlets 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 commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit Israel on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present close as the prime minister personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and helped them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that many previous presidents have faced, and he appears to handle with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu himself was leverage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has committed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured during the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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