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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire further away.

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an US partner and risked expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that Trump, and President Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

But if this deal holds, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

Trump's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

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

These public demonstrations of support may have given Trump the leeway to apply more pressure on Israel in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

When Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Biden's connection 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 moderate the country's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted the president to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where he received repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, Trump sat nearby as Netanyahu himself called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming 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 support, and assisted them convince the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman 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 warring sides has been a challenge that many previous presidents have faced, and Trump appears to do with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that Trump employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Now the Israeli government has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the war, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal