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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, declared by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

Yet if this deal stands, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that eluded Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this success.

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

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

Trump often states that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been backed up by deeds.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

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

Those visible shows of support may have given Trump the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year 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 the summer, even hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a level of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more strained.

His administration's "bear hug approach" held that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move Biden took risked fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided 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 unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led the president to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to exert maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, the president sat close as Netanyahu himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

If Trump's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and helped them persuade Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump appears to do relatively successfully."

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

Now Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

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

A conclusion to the war, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal