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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that pushed the hope of a ceasefire further away.

The attack on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an US partner and risked expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

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

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

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

Yet if this deal holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that eluded Joe Biden and his administration.

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this success.

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

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

Trump likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called him as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, Trump moved the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

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

These visible shows of support may have given Trump the leeway to exert more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, the US president urged his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to Aaron David Miller 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 always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. The president provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also visited in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president sat nearby as Netanyahu himself called Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump appears to do relatively successfully."

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

Now the Israeli government has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will release all the captives still held, living and dead, captured during the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal