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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of peace further away.

The attack on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

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

That represents a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden previously, had pursued for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

But if this deal stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this success.

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the control of either man.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump relocated the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the nation's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These public demonstrations of backing may have given Trump the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

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

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" argued that the US had to embrace Israel publicly in order to allow it to influence the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move Biden took risked fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's solid Republican base provided him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Business History Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, led Trump to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, pushing him towards 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 galvanised the leader to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

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

His normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where he heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

If Trump's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade Hamas to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump gained 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 achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has committed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

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