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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like another intensification that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

However, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a deal, announced by Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

This is a objective that he, and President Joe Biden previously, had pursued for almost 24 months.

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

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

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this success.

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these warm words have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader directed American aircraft to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the room to apply more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, even bombing a place of worship, Trump urged his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a degree of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the US had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to influence the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or individual ties may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

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 official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's 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 cities of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where he received repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump was present close as Netanyahu himself called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them convince the group to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of earlier administrations have faced, and he appears to handle with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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