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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar seemed like yet another intensification that drove the prospect of peace out of reach.

The attack on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

However, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had sought for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

Yet if this deal stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement 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.

But, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

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 him as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been matched by actions.

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

After Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, Trump directed US bombers to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the room to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of some hostages.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, even hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took endangered dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to act.

In the end, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

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

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

Trump had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, pushing him closer to 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. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits devoted in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months helped shift his perspective, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, Trump sat nearby as Netanyahu himself called the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence the government to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"This was crucial. The capacity to do this on his own schedule, and avoid yielding to the demands of the warring sides has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump appears to do relatively successfully."

The reality that the president is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister himself was an advantage that Trump employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Now Israel has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured in the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

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