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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Qatar seemed like another intensification that drove the prospect of peace out of reach.

The attack on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, announced by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

However, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

The president often states that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

When Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more pressure on Israel in private. According to reports, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a Christian church, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

Trump displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" held that the US had to embrace the nation openly in order to allow it to moderate the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was the president's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own political backing, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, led Trump to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israeli operations in Iran. But an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. He has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but visited the UAE, the kingdom and the state where the leader received consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, the president sat nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the ability to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says an analyst of the a research center.

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

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was leverage that he used to his advantage, he adds.

Currently Israel has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken in the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal