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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened expanding the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

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

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

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

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this success.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors involved beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the view under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in June, Trump directed American aircraft to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the room to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in July, even hitting a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the US had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to act.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, the president sat close as Netanyahu himself called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the backing 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 Arab rulers 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 an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he appears to handle with some success."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister personally was leverage that he used to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has committed to freeing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in its jails 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 death of over 1,200 Israelis.

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