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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha seemed like another intensification that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

The attack on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

That represents a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be negotiated.

But if this agreement holds, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Joe Biden and his administration.

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under global norms.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of support may have given Trump the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and pressure 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 American president directly instructing 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 strategy" argued that the United States had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality 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 Gaza devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

Trump had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He provided American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter 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 turning point which motivated the leader to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop 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 Israeli leader signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

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

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump gained influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to handle with some success."

The fact that Trump is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu personally was leverage that he used to his advantage, he adds.

Now Israel has agreed to releasing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the war, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal