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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of peace further away.

This strike on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an US partner and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

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

This is a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

But if this deal holds, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

Trump's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

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

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

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

The president likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under international law.

After the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of backing may have given Trump the room to exert more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, even bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" argued that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took endangered fracturing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, Israel was not ready to make peace.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led the president to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader'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, Trump also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump was present close as the prime minister personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming Trump's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the ability to influence the government to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that he used to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, 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 resulted in the devastation of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal