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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Doha appeared like yet another escalation that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an American ally and risked expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, announced by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

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

Yet 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 unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

In public, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have allowed the president the room to exert more pressure on Israel in private. According to reports, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, even bombing a Christian church, the US president urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Joe Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was consistently more tenuous.

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" argued that the US had to support the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, the militant group 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 the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. He has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped change his thinking, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, the president was present close as the prime minister himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and helped them persuade Hamas to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. 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 faced, and he appears to handle with some success."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu himself was leverage that Trump employed to his benefit, he adds.

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

The group will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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