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Initially, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Qatar seemed like another escalation that drove the prospect of peace further away.

The attack on September 9 violated the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, announced by Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

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

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

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

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel 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.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

Trump often states that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his first presidential term, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have given Trump the room to exert more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, even bombing a Christian church, Trump pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump displayed a level of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" held that the United States had to embrace the nation publicly in order to enable it to influence the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's solid Republican base provided him more room to act.

In the end, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to issue an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

Trump had allowed Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. This year, he also visited in Doha and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu himself called the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the prime minister signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

Assuming Trump's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"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 challenge that many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump seems to handle relatively successfully."

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

Now the Israeli government has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

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

An end to the war, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal