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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar seemed like yet another escalation that drove the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, declared by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

That represents a goal that he, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

Yet if this deal stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that escaped Joe Biden and his administration.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this success.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors involved beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

In public, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under global norms.

After Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered American aircraft to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the room to exert more influence on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, 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.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, the US president urged his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says 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 connection with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

His administration's "close embrace strategy" argued that the US had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver 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 provided US armed support to Israeli operations in Iran. However an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit Israel on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, the president was present nearby as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

If the president's relationship with his counterpart provided him the ability to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and helped them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have faced, and Trump seems to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that he employed to his advantage, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken in the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal