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Initially, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha seemed like yet another escalation that pushed the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

The attack on 9 September violated the territorial integrity of an US partner and risked widening the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Negotiations seemed to be collapsing.

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

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

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 negotiated.

Yet if this agreement holds, it could be Donald Trump's defining accomplishment of his return to office - one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's distinct approach and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this breakthrough.

But, as with most foreign policy wins, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

Strong Ties That Biden Never Had

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

The president likes to say that Israel has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has called Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the White House". Moreover these positive statements have been matched by actions.

During his first presidential term, the president moved the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under international law.

After the Israeli military began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in June, the US leader directed US bombers to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These public demonstrations of backing may have allowed the president the leeway to apply more influence on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, Trump's envoy, his representative, pressured the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

After Israel attacked against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

The leader exhibited a degree of will and insistence on an Israel's leader 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 prime minister that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "bear hug strategy" held that the United States had to embrace Israel publicly in order to allow it to influence the nation's military actions behind closed doors.

Underneath this was Biden's decades-long of support for the state, as well as sharp divisions within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Every step the leader took risked dividing his own domestic support, whereas his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, internal considerations or personal relationships may have had little impact than the simple fact that, throughout his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

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

Commercial Background Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to end.

The US leader had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in Gaza. He lent US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. However an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter completely, moving him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the president to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the Emirates, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

The time devoted in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months contributed to shift his perspective, according to an expert of the a policy institute. The US president did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but went to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the conflict.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, the president sat nearby as the prime minister himself phoned the Qatari leadership to express regret. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that also had the backing of influential Arab states in the area.

If the president's relationship with his counterpart provided him the ability to pressure Israel to reach an agreement, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and assisted them persuade the group to commit to the arrangement.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump developed leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"This was crucial. His ability to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the demands of the warring sides has been a problem that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and Trump seems to do with some success."

The reality that Trump is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister himself was leverage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

Currently Israel has committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from the strip.

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

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