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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha seemed like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

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

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

But if this agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that escaped Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the influence of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

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

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

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to target the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have given the president the room to apply more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, even bombing a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

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

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took endangered dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. The war had to end.

Trump had allowed Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, he also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the cities 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 visit the country on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader received repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

If the president's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and helped them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have faced, and he appears to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that Trump used to his benefit, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal