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At first, Israel's air strike on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like another escalation that drove the hope of peace out of reach.

This strike on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked expanding the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

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

That represents a goal that Trump, and Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the details of disarming Hamas, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be worked out.

But if this deal stands, it could be Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have played a role in this success.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also elements involved beyond the influence of either man.

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say 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, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the position under global norms.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in June, Trump directed American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its most powerful conventional bombs.

Those public demonstrations of support may have allowed the president the room to exert more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

After Israeli forces launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, even bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured Netanyahu to change course.

The leader displayed a degree of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug approach" argued that the US had to embrace the nation openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's military actions in private.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move Biden took risked dividing his own domestic support, while Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more room to manoeuvre.

In the end, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and Gaza in ruins, all its key military goals had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, led Trump to issue an final demand to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

Trump had given Israel a significant latitude in the territory. The president provided US armed support to Israeli operations in Iran. But an attack on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

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

This US president's close ties with the Gulf states are widely known. He has business dealings with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his initial presidency.

His visits devoted in the capitals of the Gulf region in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, says an expert of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip 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 attack on Doha, Trump was present close as the prime minister himself called Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on Trump's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

If Trump's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and helped them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to do with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than the prime minister personally was an advantage that Trump employed to his benefit, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has agreed to freeing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in its jails and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, living and dead, captured in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the war, which has resulted in the devastation of the territory and the fatalities of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal