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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like yet another escalation that pushed the prospect of peace further away.

The attack on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations 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 captives still held.

This is a objective that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

But if this deal stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that eluded Joe Biden and his administration.

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

However, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the control of either man.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the room to apply more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, even hitting a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example 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 always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" argued that the US had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to act.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact 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, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have told media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. Recently, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, the president was present close as Netanyahu himself phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump seems to handle with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that he used to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, taken in the original 7 October assault, which resulted in 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