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At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

The attack on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

That represents a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

But if this agreement holds, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

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

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under international law.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, the US leader ordered American aircraft to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the room to apply more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a place of worship, the US president urged his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says 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 relationship with the Israeli administration was consistently more tenuous.

His administration's "bear hug approach" argued that the United States had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to influence the nation's military actions in private.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took endangered dividing his own political backing, while his successor's solid Republican base provided him more flexibility to act.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed 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 the territory. He lent US armed support to Israeli operations in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, pushing 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 exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart gave him the ability to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and helped them persuade Hamas to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have faced, and he seems to do with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu himself was leverage that Trump employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Now Israel has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the captives still held, living and dead, captured during the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

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