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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar seemed like yet another intensification that drove the prospect of a ceasefire further away.

The attack on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it proved to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to free 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 disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that eluded Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

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

The president likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by deeds.

During his first presidential term, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under international law.

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

These visible shows of support may have given the president the leeway to apply more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a Christian church, Trump pressured Netanyahu to change course.

Trump exhibited a level of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "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 connection with the Israeli administration was consistently more strained.

His administration's "close embrace approach" held that the United States had to support the nation openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move Biden took endangered dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

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 travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader heard repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump sat close as the prime minister himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the room to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to do with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister himself was leverage that Trump used to his benefit, the expert continues.

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

Hamas will free all the captives still held, living and dead, captured in the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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