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At first, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar appeared like yet another escalation that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an American ally and risked expanding 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 President Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

That represents a objective that Trump, and Joe Biden previously, had sought for almost 24 months.

This marks just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

Yet if this agreement stands, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that eluded Joe Biden and his administration.

The president's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this breakthrough.

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

Strong Ties Which Biden Never Had

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

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

During his initial time in office, Trump moved the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under global norms.

When Israel began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader ordered American aircraft to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the freeing of some hostages.

When Israel attacked against Syria's military in the summer, including hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to change course.

The leader exhibited a level of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" held that the US had to embrace the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation'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. Every step Biden took endangered fracturing his own domestic support, while his successor's solid Republican base gave him more room to act.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had little impact than the reality that, during his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in the Qatari capital, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led Trump to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

Trump had given Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have told media outlets that this was a decisive moment which motivated the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's close ties with the Gulf states are well documented. He has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. Recently, Trump also stopped in Doha and the UAE capital.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, says an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where the leader heard repeated calls to put a stop to the conflict.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president sat close as the prime minister himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the Israeli leader gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming the president's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the room to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, 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 evidently occurred was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israelis, and indirectly 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 not succumb to the demands of the combatants has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump seems to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu personally was leverage that he employed to his advantage, he adds.

Now the Israeli government has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

The group will release all the captives still held, living and dead, taken in the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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