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At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar seemed like yet another escalation that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, declared by Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

That represents a goal that he, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

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

Trump's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump often states that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, Trump moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump directed American aircraft to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of support may have allowed the president the room to exert more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a level of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was consistently more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the US had to support the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own political backing, while Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to act.

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 reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, led the president to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, according to an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, the president was present close as Netanyahu personally phoned Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's relationship 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 persuade Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to do relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to freeing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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