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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha seemed like another intensification that drove the prospect of peace further away.

The attack on 9 September breached the sovereignty of an American ally and risked expanding the hostilities into a region-wide war.

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it proved to be a key moment that has led in a deal, declared by President Donald Trump, to free all captives still held.

This is a objective that he, and Joe Biden previously, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the first step towards a more durable peace, and the specifics of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance and full Israeli withdrawal are still to be negotiated.

But if this deal stands, it could be Trump's signature achievement of his second term - one that eluded Joe Biden and his diplomatic team.

The president's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations appear to have played a role in this success.

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

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the US presidency". And these warm words have been backed up by actions.

Throughout his first presidential term, Trump relocated the American diplomatic mission in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and abandoned a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are against international law, the position under international law.

After Israel began its air strikes against the Islamic Republic in the summer, Trump directed American aircraft to target the Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities with its largest non-nuclear weapons.

These visible shows of support may have allowed Trump the room to apply more pressure on the Israeli government behind the scenes. As per sources, the president's negotiator, his representative, pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 into agreeing to a halt in fighting in return for the release of some hostages.

When Israeli forces attacked against Syrian forces in July, even bombing a place of worship, the US president urged his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of determination and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the a think tank. "It's unheard of of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Joe Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was consistently more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace approach" held that the US had to support Israel publicly in order to allow it to moderate the country's war conduct behind closed doors.

Beneath this was Biden's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza War. Each move the leader took risked fracturing his own political backing, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or individual ties may have had little impact than the reality that, throughout his term, the Israeli government was not ready to make peace.

Several months into his new administration, with Iran weakened, the militant group to its northern border greatly diminished and Gaza devastated, all its major strategy objectives had been accomplished.

Commercial Background Assisted Gain Support from Arab States

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to deliver an final demand to the prime minister. Hostilities had to end.

Trump had given the Israeli military a significant latitude in Gaza. He provided US armed support to Israel's campaign in the neighboring country. But an attack on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, moving him towards the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several administration figures have informed the press that this was a turning point which motivated the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

This US president's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. Trump has business dealings with the emirate and the UAE. He began each of his administrations with state visits to the kingdom. This year, he also visited in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's normalization agreements, which established ties between Israel and a number of Arab nations, such as the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time devoted in the cities of the Gulf region earlier this year helped change his thinking, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not travel to the country on this regional tour but visited the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom and Qatar where he received consistent appeals to put a stop to the war.

Less than a month after that attack on Doha, Trump sat nearby as the prime minister himself called the Qatari leadership to apologise. And later that day, the Israeli leader signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that also had the support of key Muslim nations in the region.

Assuming Trump's alliance with Netanyahu provided him the room to influence Israel to strike a deal, his past with Muslim leaders may have secured their backing, and helped them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that the US leader gained leverage with the Israeli government, and through intermediaries with the militants," notes an analyst of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"That made a difference. The capacity to do this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that many earlier administrations have struggled with, and he seems to do with some success."

The reality that the president is far better liked in Israel than Netanyahu personally was leverage that Trump employed to his advantage, the expert continues.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians held in its jails and has consented to a limited pullback from Gaza.

Hamas will release all the captives still held, both alive and deceased, captured during the original 7 October Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the war, which has resulted in the destruction of the territory and the deaths of over 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal