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

This strike on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked expanding the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

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

That represents a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden previously, had pursued for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

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

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this success.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the influence of either man.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

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

Trump often states that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under international law.

After Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of support may have given Trump the leeway to apply more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, the US president urged his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

His administration's "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to embrace the nation openly in order to allow it to influence the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of backing 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 political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout his term, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, every one of its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

Trump had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

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

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year helped shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

If the president's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence the government to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

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

"That made a difference. His ability 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 seems to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that Trump is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu himself was leverage that Trump used to his benefit, he adds.

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

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal