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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar appeared like another intensification that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

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

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

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

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

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

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

When Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed American aircraft to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed the president the room to apply more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, including hitting a Christian church, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a degree of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was always more strained.

His administration's "close embrace strategy" held that the US had to support the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own domestic support, while his successor's solid Republican base provided him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

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

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits devoted in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump sat close as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and helped them convince the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister himself was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

Now Israel has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured during the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the conflict, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal