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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Doha seemed like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an US partner and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

This is a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for almost 24 months.

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

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

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

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements at play beyond the influence of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, Trump relocated the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under international law.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have allowed Trump the room to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in the summer, including bombing a Christian church, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a level of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Biden's connection with the Israeli administration was consistently more strained.

His administration's "close embrace strategy" held that the United States had to support the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own political backing, while his successor's solid Republican base gave 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, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, led Trump to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have told the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where he heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

If Trump's relationship with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that many earlier administrations have faced, and he seems to handle with some success."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the captives still held, living and dead, captured in the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal