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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like another intensification that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, announced by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

That represents a goal that he, and President Joe Biden previously, had sought for almost 24 months.

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

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

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

But, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president often states that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

During his first presidential term, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under international law.

After the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump directed US bombers to strike the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the room to apply more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

When Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was consistently more tenuous.

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the US had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the country's military actions behind closed doors.

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

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to issue an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have told media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump was present close as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of influential Arab states in the region.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to influence 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 deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump seems to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was leverage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

Now Israel has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured in the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the loss of over 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