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Initially, the Israeli air strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar seemed like yet another intensification that pushed the hope of peace out of reach.

The attack on September 9 breached the sovereignty of an US partner and threatened widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy appeared to be collapsing.

However, it turned out to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, announced 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 first step 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 agreement stands, it could be Donald Trump's signature achievement 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 appear to have contributed in this success.

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

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

Trump likes to say that the nation has no greater ally, and Netanyahu has called him as the country's "greatest ever ally in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his initial time in office, Trump moved the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the position under global norms.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

Those public demonstrations of backing may have given Trump the room to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in return for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a place of worship, the US president pressured his counterpart to change course.

Trump displayed a degree of will and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller 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."

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

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" argued that the United States had to support the nation publicly in order to allow it to moderate the nation's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was the president's nearly half-century of backing for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Each move Biden took endangered fracturing his own political backing, while Trump's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to manoeuvre.

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

Several months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north greatly diminished and the coastal strip devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which killed a local national but not the intended targets, prompted Trump to deliver an ultimatum to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a relatively free hand in Gaza. The president provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in Iran. But an strike on Qatari territory was a separate issue completely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of Trump officials have told the press that this was a decisive moment which motivated the leader to apply maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections 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 official trips to the kingdom. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

The time he spent in the capitals of the Gulf region earlier this year contributed to change his thinking, according to Ed Husain of the a policy institute. The US president did not travel to the country on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and the state where he received repeated calls to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on the city, the president was present close as Netanyahu personally phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. And later that day, the prime minister gave approval on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the support of influential Arab states in the region.

Assuming the president's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the arrangement.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader gained influence with the Israeli government, and indirectly with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

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

The reality that Trump is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently Israel has agreed to releasing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

The group will free all the captives still held, living and dead, taken during the initial October 7 Hamas attack, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

An end to the conflict, which has resulted in the devastation of Gaza and the fatalities of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal