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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha seemed like another escalation that pushed the hope of a ceasefire further away.

The attack on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

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

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

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza 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 Biden and his administration.

Trump's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, 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 the Israeli leader has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been matched by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

When Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of support may have given the president the room to exert more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, including hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to change course.

Trump 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 American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Joe Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

His administration's "bear hug strategy" held that the United States had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, the militant group to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

Trump had allowed Israel a significant latitude in the territory. The president lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

A number of administration figures have told media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year helped change his thinking, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to the country on this regional tour but visited the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump sat nearby as the prime minister himself called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

If Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them convince the group to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and he seems to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he used to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned 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 in the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the conflict, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal