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

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

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

This is a objective that he, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

But if this agreement holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that escaped Joe Biden and his administration.

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this success.

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout 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 Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under global norms.

When Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have given the president the leeway to exert more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syria's military in the summer, even bombing a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a degree of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" held that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move Biden took risked dividing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics 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 Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted the president to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

Trump had given Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. The president provided American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have informed the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister himself called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the room to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and helped them convince the group to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump appears to do relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu himself was leverage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the war, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal