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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha appeared like another intensification that drove the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

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

That represents a objective that he, and President Joe Biden before him, 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 stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

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

Trump often states that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called him as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under international law.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have given the president the leeway to exert more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in July, even hitting a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level 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 US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" held that the United States had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's solid Republican base gave him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader heard repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

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

If Trump's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and Trump seems to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to freeing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

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