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

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

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

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

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

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

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

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed US bombers to strike the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those visible shows of support may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, the president's envoy, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in the summer, including hitting a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a level of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's connection with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to act.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led the president to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. The president lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

The time devoted in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months helped change his thinking, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president was present close as Netanyahu personally phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of earlier administrations have faced, and Trump seems to do with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister himself was an advantage that Trump used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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