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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha seemed like another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked expanding the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

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

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

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

But if this deal stands, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that eluded Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this success.

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

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

During his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under international law.

When Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have given Trump the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of a number of captives.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, including hitting a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's military actions in private.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to act.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

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

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump sat close as Netanyahu himself called Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the ability to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and assisted them convince the group to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to do relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, the expert continues.

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

Hamas will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the war, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal