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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar seemed like yet another escalation that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

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

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, declared by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that he, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

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

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this breakthrough.

But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

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

The president often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his initial time in office, Trump relocated the US embassy in the country 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 position under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These public demonstrations of support may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel in private. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a degree of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the United States had to support the nation publicly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. The president lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, pushing him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have told the press that this was a turning point which motivated the president to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned 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 backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

If the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the room to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, 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 own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he appears to do with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu himself was leverage that he used to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from the strip.

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

An end to the war, which has resulted in the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal