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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar seemed like another intensification that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

That represents a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had sought 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.

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

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under global norms.

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

Those visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" held that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century 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 Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led Trump to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided American military might to Israeli operations in Iran. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to apply maximum pressure 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 United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time he spent in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where he received repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, the president sat nearby as the prime minister personally called the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have faced, and he appears to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Now Israel has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from the strip.

The group will release all the captives still held, living and dead, captured during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of more than 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