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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like another escalation that drove the hope of a ceasefire further away.

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

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, 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 agreement holds, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, Trump relocated the US embassy in the country from its former location to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under global norms.

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

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syria's military in the summer, even hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug strategy" argued that the US had to embrace the nation publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own political backing, while Trump's solid Republican base 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, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Gain Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led the president to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. The president lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, 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 turning point which motivated the president to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he heard repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu himself called Qatar to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the ability to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and helped them convince the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that lot of earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump appears to do with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was leverage that Trump employed to his benefit, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has agreed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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