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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar seemed like another intensification that drove the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on 9 September violated the sovereignty of an American ally and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

However, it turned out to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, announced by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

This is a goal that he, and Joe Biden before him, had sought for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout are still to be negotiated.

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

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

However, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also elements at play beyond the influence of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

In public, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

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

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, the US leader ordered US bombers to strike the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have allowed the president the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the freeing of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a Christian church, the US president pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, 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 relationship with the Israeli administration was always more strained.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" argued that the United States had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to influence the country's military actions in private.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Every step Biden took risked dividing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Business History Helped Gain Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, 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 stop.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. The president lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, moving him towards the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the leader to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. This year, he also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump sat close as Netanyahu personally phoned Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

If the president's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump gained influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," notes an analyst of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to do this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have faced, and he seems to do relatively successfully."

The fact that Trump is much more popular in Israel than the prime minister himself was an advantage that he employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand detainees held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, living and dead, captured in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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