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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that pushed the prospect of peace out of reach.

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

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

That represents 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 remain to be negotiated.

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

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this success.

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

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

Trump likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump directed US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed Trump the room to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, his representative, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

After Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, including bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" argued that the United States had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's military actions in private.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, 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 his new administration, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, 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. The war had to end.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have told the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where he heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president sat nearby as Netanyahu himself called Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to influence the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and assisted them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have faced, and he appears to do relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that he employed to his benefit, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal