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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like another escalation that drove the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

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

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

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

Trump's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of both leaders.

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called him as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president moved the US embassy in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under international law.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed US bombers to target the nation's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of support may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syria's military in July, including bombing a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader exhibited a degree of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "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 connection with the Israeli administration was consistently more strained.

His administration's "bear hug approach" argued that the United States had to embrace the nation publicly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

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

Several months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

Trump had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent US armed support to Israeli operations in Iran. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, he also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

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

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months helped change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump sat close as the prime minister personally called Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

If the president's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and helped them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that lot of earlier administrations have struggled with, and he appears 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 benefit, the expert continues.

Now Israel has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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