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Initially, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like another escalation that pushed the hope of peace further away.

The attack on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

Instead, it proved to be a key moment that culminated in a agreement, declared by Donald Trump, to release all captives still held.

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

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal remain to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that escaped Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this success.

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

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

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

Trump likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called him as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the White House". And these positive statements have been matched by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president relocated the US embassy in the country from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the position under international law.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, the US leader ordered American aircraft to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of support may have given Trump the leeway to apply more influence on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump exhibited a level of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug strategy" held that the US had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to influence the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own domestic support, whereas his successor'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, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, every one of its key military goals had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have told the press 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 Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, he also stopped in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

The time devoted in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year helped shift his perspective, says an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where he received repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, Trump was present nearby as the prime minister personally phoned Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the region.

If the president's relationship with his counterpart provided him the ability to pressure the government to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and helped them persuade the group to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that many earlier administrations have faced, and he appears to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is far better liked in the nation than Netanyahu personally was leverage that he used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing over a thousand Palestinians held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the original 7 October assault, which resulted in 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