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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar seemed like yet another intensification that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

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

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

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

But if this deal stands, 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 the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

But, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the control of either man.

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump often states that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

After Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the nation's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have given Trump the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of a number of captives.

After Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" held that the US had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own political backing, while his successor's solid Republican base gave him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Business History Helped Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have told media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, he also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped shift his perspective, according to an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader received consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, the president was present close as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the room to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and assisted them persuade Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump appears to handle with some success."

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

Now the Israeli government has committed to freeing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October assault, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal