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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Qatar appeared like another intensification that drove the hope of a ceasefire further away.

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

Negotiations appeared to be collapsing.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, declared by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

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

It is just the first step towards a lasting resolution, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

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

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

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also elements at play beyond the control of both leaders.

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

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

Trump often states that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

During his initial time in office, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, 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 nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government in private. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured Netanyahu to change course.

Trump exhibited a level of will and insistence 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 you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace strategy" argued that the US had to embrace Israel publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had allowed Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations 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 full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. Recently, he also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on Doha, Trump was present close as Netanyahu personally phoned Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

If Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to influence the government to strike a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have ensured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas," says an analyst of the a research center.

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

The fact that the president is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister personally was leverage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

Now Israel has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, living and dead, taken in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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