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Initially, the Israeli aerial attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha appeared like yet another intensification that drove the prospect of a ceasefire out of reach.

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

Diplomacy seemed to be in ruins.

Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal event that culminated in a deal, announced by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

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

It is just the initial phase towards a more durable peace, and the details of Hamas disarmament, administering Gaza and complete Israeli pullout remain to be worked out.

But if this agreement holds, it could be Donald 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 the Israeli government and the Middle Eastern nations seem to have contributed in this success.

However, as with many foreign policy wins, there were also elements involved beyond the control of both leaders.

Strong Ties That Eluded Biden

Publicly, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

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

Throughout his initial time in office, the president moved the US embassy in Israel from its former location to the contested capital and discarded a traditional American stance that Jewish communities in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal, the view under international law.

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

Those public demonstrations of backing may have allowed Trump the leeway to exert more influence on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's negotiator, his representative, browbeat the prime minister in late 2024 into accepting a halt in fighting in exchange for the release of some hostages.

When Israel attacked against Syria's military in the summer, including hitting a Christian church, the US president urged his counterpart to change course.

Trump exhibited a degree of determination and insistence on an Israeli prime minister that is rarely seen, according to Aaron David Miller of the a think tank. "There is no example of an US leader directly instructing an Israeli leader that you're going to have to comply or else."

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

His administration's "close embrace approach" argued that the US had to support the nation openly in order to allow it to influence the nation's military actions in private.

Underneath this was the president's nearly half-century of support for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his Democratic coalition over the conflict in Gaza. Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own political backing, while Trump's solid Republican base gave him more room to act.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the reality that, throughout his term, Israel was unwilling 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 achieved.

Business History Assisted Gain Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in Doha, which killed a Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, led Trump to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu. Hostilities had to end.

The US leader had given the Israeli military a relatively free hand in the territory. He provided American military might to Israeli operations in the neighboring country. But an strike on Qatar soil was a different matter entirely, moving him closer to the stance of Arab nations on how best to end the war.

A number of administration figures have told media outlets that this was a turning point which motivated the president to exert maximum pressure to get a peace deal done.

The leader's close ties with the Arab monarchies are widely known. He has commercial interests with Qatar and the UAE. The president began each of his administrations with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also stopped in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

His Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several Muslim states, such as the Emirates, was the most significant diplomatic achievement of his first term.

The time he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula in recent months helped change his thinking, says an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit Israel on this regional tour but went to the UAE, the kingdom and the state where the leader received repeated calls to bring an end to the conflict.

Within weeks after that attack on Doha, Trump was present nearby as Netanyahu himself phoned the Qatari leadership to apologise. Subsequently, the prime minister signed off on the president's 20-point peace plan for the territory - one that additionally had the backing of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming Trump's alliance with his counterpart gave him the room to pressure the government to reach an agreement, his past with Arab rulers may have secured their support, and helped them persuade the group to agree to the deal.

"One of the things that clearly happened was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with the militants," notes an analyst 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 many earlier administrations have faced, and Trump seems to handle relatively successfully."

The reality that Trump is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu personally was an advantage that Trump employed to his benefit, he adds.

Now Israel has committed to freeing over a thousand detainees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and has consented to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, captured in the initial October 7 assault, which caused the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

A conclusion to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of Gaza and the deaths of more than 67,000 {Palestinians|Pal