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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire further away.

This strike on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, announced by Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

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

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

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

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

In public, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned 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 Iran in the summer, Trump directed American aircraft to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have allowed the president the room to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel attacked against Syria's military in July, including hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader 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 "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to support Israel publicly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

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 final demand to the prime minister. The war had to end.

Trump had given Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

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

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

The time he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but visited the UAE, the kingdom and the state where he heard repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and assisted them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that lot of earlier administrations have faced, and he appears to handle with some success."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in the nation than the prime minister personally was leverage that Trump employed to his benefit, he adds.

Currently Israel has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal