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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha seemed like yet another escalation that drove the prospect of peace out of reach.

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

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

However, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

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

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

Yet if this deal stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the influence of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president moved the US embassy in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under international law.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump directed American aircraft to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of backing may have given Trump the leeway to apply more pressure on Israel in private. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of some hostages.

When Israel attacked against Syria's military in the summer, including hitting a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a degree of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" held that the United States had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, 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 his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, led Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

Trump had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, moving 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 exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months helped shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where he received consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, the president was present nearby as the prime minister himself phoned Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence Israel to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman 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 challenge that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump seems to handle with some success."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to freeing over a thousand detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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