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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like another intensification that pushed the prospect of peace out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

That represents a goal that Trump, and President Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

But if this agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his return to office - one that escaped Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

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

The president likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance 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 the summer, Trump ordered American aircraft to strike the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of backing may have given the president the leeway to apply more pressure on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, 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.

After Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, Trump urged his counterpart to change course.

The leader displayed a level of will and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" argued that the United States had to support Israel openly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took risked dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have told media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the leader to exert maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. He has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, Trump also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where he received repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump sat close as Netanyahu himself called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

If the president's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to influence the government to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump seems to handle with some success."

The fact that the president is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

Now Israel has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from the strip.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, living and dead, captured during 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 destruction of the territory and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal