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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas militant negotiating team in Qatar seemed like yet another escalation that pushed the hope of a ceasefire further away.

This strike on 9 September breached the territorial integrity of an US partner and threatened widening the hostilities into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a pivotal event that culminated in a agreement, announced by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

That represents a goal that he, and President Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

This marks just the initial phase towards a lasting resolution, and the specifics of disarming Hamas, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout are still to be worked out.

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

Trump's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this success.

But, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship Which Eluded Biden

In public, Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are consistently friendly.

Trump often states that Israel has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has described him as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his initial time in office, the president relocated the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under global norms.

When Israel began its air strikes against Iran in June, Trump directed American aircraft to target the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These public demonstrations of backing may have given the president the leeway to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, his representative, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of a number of captives.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, even hitting a Christian church, Trump urged Netanyahu to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an US leader literally telling an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" held that the US had to support Israel openly in order to enable it to moderate the country's war conduct in private.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the Gaza War. Each move Biden took risked dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's loyal conservative voters gave him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout Biden's presidency, the Israeli government was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with the Islamic Republic chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and Gaza devastated, every one of its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Helped Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to deliver an final demand to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had given Israel a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided US armed support to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. However an attack on Qatari territory was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to finalize an agreement.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. Trump has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. 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 the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the biggest foreign policy success of his first term.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, according to Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump did not travel to Israel on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where he heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, the president sat close as Netanyahu personally called the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the prime minister gave approval on the president's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

If the president's alliance with Netanyahu gave him the room to influence the government to reach an agreement, his past with Muslim leaders may have ensured their support, and helped them persuade the group to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained influence with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the warring sides has been a problem that many previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump seems to do with some success."

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

Now Israel has committed to releasing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in Israeli prisons 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 caused the death of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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