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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha appeared like another escalation that drove the hope of a ceasefire further away.

This strike on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an American ally and risked expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

This is a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

But if this agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that escaped Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this success.

However, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, the US leader directed American aircraft to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of backing may have allowed Trump the room to apply more influence on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syria's military in July, including hitting a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a level 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 American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was consistently more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the United States had to embrace the nation publicly in order to allow it to influence the nation's military actions in private.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led the president to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

Trump had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He provided American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader heard repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump sat close as the prime minister personally phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

If Trump's relationship with his counterpart provided him the room to influence the government to reach an agreement, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump gained influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to do with some success."

The fact that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was leverage that Trump used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing over a thousand detainees held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October assault, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the destruction of Gaza and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal