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

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

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

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

But if this deal holds, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

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

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed American aircraft to strike the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, even hitting a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister 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 they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden'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 dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to act.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had less importance than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led the president to issue an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

Trump had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, 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 he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped change his thinking, according to an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them convince the group to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have faced, and he seems to do with some success."

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

Currently Israel has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken in the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal