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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the sovereignty of an American ally and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

However, it turned out to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

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

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

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

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this success.

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

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

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

The president often states that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as Israel'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 US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in July, including bombing a Christian church, Trump urged his counterpart 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 American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was always more strained.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" held that the United States had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's war conduct 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. Every step the leader took endangered fracturing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations 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.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit Israel on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, Trump sat nearby as the prime minister himself called the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

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

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly 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 demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to do relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister personally was leverage that he used to his benefit, the expert continues.

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

Hamas will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal