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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas delegation in Doha seemed like another intensification that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

This is a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement holds, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

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

Trump often states that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called him as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these positive statements have been matched by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the view under global norms.

When Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader ordered American aircraft to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These public demonstrations of support may have given Trump the room to exert more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, including bombing a Christian church, Trump urged his counterpart to change course.

Trump displayed a degree of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was always more strained.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" held that the US had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took endangered dividing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have told media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, Trump sat close as Netanyahu personally called Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the room to influence the government to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince the group to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of earlier administrations have struggled with, and he appears to do with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister himself was leverage that he used to his benefit, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, taken in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

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