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At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha seemed like another intensification that pushed the hope of peace further away.

This strike on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked expanding 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 President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

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

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this success.

However, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of both leaders.

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been matched by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump relocated 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.

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

Those visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, even bombing a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a level of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

His administration's "close embrace approach" held that the United States had to support Israel publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took risked dividing his own domestic support, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

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

A number of administration figures have told media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months helped change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, Trump sat close as the prime minister himself called the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and helped them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump seems to do with some success."

The fact that the president is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister himself was leverage that he used to his advantage, he adds.

Now Israel has agreed to freeing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, taken during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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