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At first, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar seemed like yet another intensification that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

However, it turned out to be a key moment that culminated in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

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

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

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

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

In public, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president often states that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed Trump the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, even bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

The leader displayed a level of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller 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."

Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was always more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the US had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move Biden took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

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

A number of administration figures have told media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year helped change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where he received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, the president sat nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's relationship with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and assisted them convince the group to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump gained influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have faced, and Trump seems to handle with some success."

The fact that the president is much more popular in the nation than the prime minister himself was leverage that he employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Now the Israeli government has committed to freeing over a thousand detainees held in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from the strip.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

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