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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Qatar seemed like another escalation that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

This strike on September 9 breached the territorial integrity of an American ally and risked expanding the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Diplomacy seemed to be collapsing.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that has led in a agreement, announced by Donald Trump, to release all remaining hostages.

This is a objective that Trump, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued for almost 24 months.

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

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

The president's unique style and key alliances with the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have contributed in this success.

However, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the influence of either man.

A Close Relationship That Eluded Biden

In public, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president often states that the nation has no greater ally, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as the country's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

During his first presidential term, the president moved the American diplomatic mission in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and discarded a long-held US position that Jewish communities in the occupied territories are illegal, the view under international law.

When the Israeli military began its air strikes against Iran in June, the US leader ordered US bombers to target the nation's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of backing may have allowed Trump the room to exert more pressure on the Israeli government in private. As per sources, Trump's envoy, his representative, browbeat Netanyahu in the latter part of the year into agreeing to a halt in fighting in exchange for the freeing of a number of captives.

When Israel launched strikes against Syria's military in the summer, even bombing a place of worship, the US president urged Netanyahu to change course.

The leader exhibited a degree of determination 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 directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's connection with the Israeli administration was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" held that the United States had to support the nation openly in order to allow it to influence the country's war conduct in private.

Underneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for the state, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked dividing his own political backing, whereas Trump's solid Republican base gave him more flexibility to act.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was not ready to reach an agreement.

Eight months into his new administration, with Iran chastened, Hezbollah to its immediate north significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its major strategy objectives had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted the president to deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu. The war had to stop.

The US leader had allowed the Israeli military a significant latitude in the territory. He provided American military might to Israeli operations in Iran. However an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to conclude the conflict.

Several administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the leader to apply full force to get a peace deal done.

This US president's strong connections with the Gulf states are well documented. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. The president began both his presidential terms with official trips to Saudi Arabia. This year, Trump also visited in Qatar and the UAE capital.

His normalization agreements, which established ties between the Jewish state and a number of Arab nations, including the UAE, was the most significant foreign policy success of his first term.

His visits he spent in the capitals of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped change his thinking, says Ed Husain of the a policy institute. Trump did not visit the country on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, the kingdom and Qatar where the leader heard consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Within weeks after that Israeli strike on Doha, the president sat nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned Qatar to apologise. Subsequently, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for Gaza - one that also had the backing of key Muslim nations in the region.

If the president's alliance with his counterpart provided him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and assisted them persuade Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that clearly happened was that the US leader developed influence with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with Hamas," says an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and avoid yielding to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of earlier administrations have faced, and he seems to do with some success."

The fact that Trump is far better liked in the nation than the prime minister personally was an advantage that Trump employed to his advantage, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to freeing over a thousand Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured in the original 7 October assault, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israeli citizens.

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