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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha seemed like another escalation that drove the hope of peace out of reach.

The attack on September 9 violated the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

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

This is a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden previously, had sought for almost 24 months.

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

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

The president's unique style and key alliances with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed in this success.

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

A Close Relationship That Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". Moreover these warm words have been backed up by actions.

During his initial time in office, the president relocated the US embassy 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.

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

Those visible shows of backing may have given the president the room to exert more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in the summer, including hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a level of will and insistence on an Israel's leader that is rarely seen, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "bear hug strategy" held that the United States had to embrace Israel openly in order to enable it to influence the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own political backing, whereas his successor's solid Republican base gave him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during his term, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

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

Business History Helped Secure Support from Arab States

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, led Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

Trump had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, pushing him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have informed media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are widely known. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the United Arab Emirates. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to change his thinking, according to an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to Israel on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, the president was present nearby as the prime minister personally called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the area.

If Trump's relationship with his counterpart provided him the room to pressure Israel to strike a deal, his past with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince Hamas to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman 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 Trump appears to handle with some success."

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

Now Israel has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

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

An end to the war, which has led to the destruction of the territory and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal