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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that drove the hope of a ceasefire further away.

The attack on September 9 breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to free 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 details of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

Yet if this agreement stands, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

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

But, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under international law.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader directed American aircraft to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a Christian church, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a level of determination and pressure 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 you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" held that the US had to embrace the nation openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, all 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 Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted the president to issue an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to end.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. He provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have told the press that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the leader to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, he also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, according to an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, the president sat nearby as Netanyahu personally called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

If the president's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence the government to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have faced, and he appears to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu personally was leverage that he used to his advantage, the expert continues.

Now Israel has agreed to releasing over a thousand detainees held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, taken in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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