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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

The attack on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened expanding the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

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

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

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

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

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

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump often states that the nation has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his first presidential term, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump directed US bombers to strike the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have given Trump the room to exert more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of a number of captives.

After Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, even bombing a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "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 relationship with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

His administration's "close embrace strategy" argued that the US had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, while Trump's solid Republican base provided him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or individual ties may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

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

Trump had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president lent American military might to Israeli operations in Iran. However an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed the press that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the president to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, 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, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, Trump was present close as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming Trump's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," notes an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that lot of earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to do relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister personally was an advantage that he employed to his advantage, he adds.

Currently Israel has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured during the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal