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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha seemed like another escalation that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an US partner and risked expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a deal, declared by Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

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

This marks 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.

But if this agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

Trump's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this success.

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

A Close Relationship Which Biden Never Had

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

The president often states that the nation has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described him as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

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

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

Those visible shows of backing may have given Trump the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" argued that the United States had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to influence the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip in ruins, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. The president lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials 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 strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year helped shift his perspective, says an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, the president was present nearby as Netanyahu himself called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming the president's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence Israel to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them convince Hamas to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and Trump seems to handle with some success."

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

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

The group will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

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