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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar seemed like another escalation that drove the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an US partner and risked expanding the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

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

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

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

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with the Israeli government and the Arab world appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these positive statements have been backed up by deeds.

During his first presidential term, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under international law.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran in June, Trump ordered American aircraft to strike the nation's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have given Trump the leeway to exert more pressure on Israel in private. According to reports, Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

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

Trump displayed a degree of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the US had to embrace the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the country's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took endangered dividing his own political backing, while his successor's solid Republican base provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with the Islamic Republic weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza in ruins, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Secure Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had given Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter completely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several Trump officials have told the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he 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 initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year helped change his thinking, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit Israel on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on the city, the president was present close as Netanyahu personally called Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to influence the government to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed leverage with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have faced, and he seems to handle relatively successfully."

The fact that the president is much more popular in the nation than Netanyahu himself was leverage that Trump used to his benefit, the expert continues.

Now the Israeli government has committed to freeing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the loss of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal