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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like another escalation that drove the hope of peace out of reach.

The attack on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened expanding the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

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

That represents a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

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

Yet if this agreement stands, it could be 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 the Israeli government and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

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

Trump often states that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the leeway to exert more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, even bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a level of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" held that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's solid Republican base gave him more room to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led the president to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have told the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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

The fact that the president is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, taken during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the war, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal