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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like yet another escalation that drove the hope of peace further away.

The attack on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that escaped Biden and his administration.

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this success.

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

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been matched by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump moved the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have given Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a degree of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

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

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. The president lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. He has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, Trump sat nearby as the prime minister personally called Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

If Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to influence the government to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and helped them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump gained leverage 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 achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump seems to do with some success."

The fact that the president is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that he employed to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has committed to freeing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken in the original 7 October assault, which caused the death of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the war, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal