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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like another escalation that drove the prospect of a ceasefire further away.

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened expanding the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

That represents a goal that he, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

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

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

In public, 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 called him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump relocated the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of support may have allowed Trump the room to exert more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of some hostages.

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

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

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

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" argued that the US had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

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

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel 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 cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

If Trump's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to pressure the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and helped them persuade Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have faced, and Trump appears to do with some success."

The fact that the president is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister himself was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has committed to freeing over a thousand detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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