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Initially, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar seemed like yet another intensification that drove the hope of peace further away.

This strike on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened widening the conflict into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

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

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

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

Yet if this deal stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Joe Biden and his administration.

Trump's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this breakthrough.

But, as with many diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

The president often states that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as Israel's "greatest ever ally in the US presidency". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested capital and abandoned a long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those visible shows of support may have given the president the room to apply more influence on Israel in private. As per sources, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, pressured Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, including bombing a place of worship, Trump pressured Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader displayed a degree 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 US leader directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was consistently more strained.

The Biden team's "bear hug approach" held that the US had to support the nation publicly in order to allow it to influence the nation's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own domestic support, while Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was unwilling to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Helped Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. The war had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue completely, 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 turning point which galvanised the president to exert full force to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with official trips to the kingdom. This year, he also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the cities of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and the state where the leader heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the war.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, the president sat nearby as the prime minister himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

If Trump's relationship with Netanyahu provided him the ability to influence the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them convince the group to agree to the arrangement.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, 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 warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to handle with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister himself was an advantage that Trump employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Now the Israeli government has committed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured during the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the conflict, which has led to the destruction of Gaza and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal