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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

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

Negotiations appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a key moment that has led in a agreement, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

That represents a goal that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be negotiated.

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

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this breakthrough.

However, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the control of either man.

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

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

Trump often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described Trump as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv 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 directed American aircraft to strike the nation's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of support may have given Trump the leeway to exert more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of determination and insistence on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Biden's connection with Netanyahu's government was always more strained.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" argued that the US had to support the nation openly in order to enable it to influence the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took endangered fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, the militant group to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which galvanised the leader to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year helped change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where he heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, the president sat close as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's relationship with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and helped them persuade Hamas to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to handle with some success."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister personally was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

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

Hamas will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A conclusion to the war, which has resulted in the destruction of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal