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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Doha appeared like yet another escalation that pushed the hope of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that has led in a deal, announced by President Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

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

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

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

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this success.

However, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors involved beyond the control of either man.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described him as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his initial time in office, Trump moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, Trump ordered US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed Trump the leeway to apply more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, Steve Witkoff, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in July, including bombing a Christian church, the US president pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a level of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli leader that they must agree or else."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" held that the United States had to support Israel openly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took endangered dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to act.

In the end, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Several months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, the militant group to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which resulted in the death of a Qatari citizen but not the intended targets, prompted the president to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to stop.

Trump had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. The president lent American military might to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have told media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has business dealings with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. Recently, he also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, including the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader received consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on the city, the president sat close as the prime minister personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

If Trump's alliance with his counterpart provided him the ability to pressure the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have secured their backing, and assisted them convince the group to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that the US leader gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. The capacity to achieve this on his own schedule, and not succumb to the demands of the combatants has been a challenge that many previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump appears to handle relatively successfully."

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

Currently Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

Hamas will free all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the initial October 7 assault, which resulted in the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

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