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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like another escalation that drove the prospect of a ceasefire further away.

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

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, declared by Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

That represents a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

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

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

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

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

The president likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these positive statements have been matched by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump displayed a level of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" argued that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

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 risked fracturing his own political backing, while Trump's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or individual ties may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led the president to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had allowed Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, Trump sat nearby as the prime minister personally called Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader gained influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," notes Jon Alterman 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 combatants has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump appears to handle with some success."

The fact that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will release all the captives still held, living and dead, captured during the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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