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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

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

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

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

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

The president's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this success.

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the influence of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under international law.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have given the president the room to exert more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in the summer, even hitting a Christian church, the US president pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" held that the United States had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to influence the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath 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 the leader took risked dividing his own political backing, whereas his successor's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, 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 Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections 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 state visits to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit Israel on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, the president sat nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

If Trump's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence the government to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their support, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," says an analyst of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

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

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

The group will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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