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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like another escalation that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, announced by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden previously, had sought for nearly two years.

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and full Israeli withdrawal remain 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 Biden and his administration.

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this success.

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

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

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

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and Netanyahu has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these warm words have been matched by deeds.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump relocated the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, Trump ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have given Trump the leeway to exert more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" held that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took risked dividing his own domestic support, while Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. The president provided American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a decisive moment which motivated the leader to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, Trump also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to the country on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present close as Netanyahu personally phoned Qatar to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader gave approval on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to influence Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and assisted them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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

The fact that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has agreed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

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

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