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At first, Israel's aerial attack on the Hamas militant delegation in Doha appeared like yet another escalation that drove the prospect of peace out of reach.

The attack on September 9 violated the territorial integrity of an American ally and threatened widening the conflict into a broader regional conflict.

Negotiations seemed to be in ruins.

However, it proved to be a key moment that culminated in a deal, declared by Donald Trump, to free all remaining hostages.

That represents a objective that he, and President Joe Biden before him, had pursued for nearly two years.

It is just the initial phase 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 Trump's defining accomplishment of his second term - one that eluded Biden and his administration.

The president's distinct approach and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world seem to have played a role in this success.

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

Strong Ties Which Eluded Biden

In public, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles.

The president likes to say that the nation has no better friend, and the Israeli leader has described Trump as Israel's "most supportive friend in the White House". And these warm words 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 discarded a traditional American stance that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law, the view under global norms.

After Israel began its air strikes against Iran in the summer, the US leader directed US bombers to strike the Iran's atomic sites with its most powerful conventional bombs.

These visible shows of support may have given Trump the leeway to apply more pressure on Israel behind the scenes. According to reports, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the prime minister in the latter part of the year into accepting a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of a number of captives.

When Israeli forces launched strikes against Syrian forces in July, including hitting a place of worship, Trump pressured his counterpart to alter tactics.

Trump displayed a degree of determination and pressure on an Israel's leader that is virtually unprecedented, according to an analyst of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's unheard of of an American president directly instructing an Israeli prime minister that they must agree or else."

Biden's relationship with Netanyahu's government was always more tenuous.

The Biden team's "close embrace strategy" held that the United States had to support Israel publicly in order to enable it to moderate the nation's military actions in private.

Underneath this was the president's decades-long of backing for Israel, as well as deep disagreements within his political base over the conflict in Gaza. Each move the leader took risked dividing his own domestic support, while his successor's loyal conservative voters provided him more room to manoeuvre.

Ultimately, domestic politics or personal relationships may have had less importance than the simple fact that, during his term, Israel was unwilling to make peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran weakened, Hezbollah to its northern border significantly reduced and the coastal strip in ruins, all its key military goals had been achieved.

Business History Assisted Secure Gulf's Backing

An Israeli strike in the Qatari capital, which resulted in the death of a local national but not the intended targets, prompted the president to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister. The war had to stop.

Trump had allowed Israel a relatively free hand in the territory. He lent American military might to Israel's campaign in Iran. However an strike on Qatar soil was a separate issue entirely, pushing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump officials have told the press that this was a turning point which galvanised the president to apply full force to finalize an agreement.

The leader's strong connections with the Arab monarchies are well documented. He has commercial interests with the emirate and the UAE. He began both his presidential terms with state visits to the kingdom. This year, he also stopped in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The president's Abraham Accords, which established ties between the Jewish state and several Muslim states, such as the UAE, was the biggest diplomatic achievement of his initial presidency.

His visits he spent in the cities of the Arabian Peninsula earlier this year contributed to shift his perspective, according to an expert of the Council on Foreign Relations. The US president did not visit Israel on this Middle East trip but visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the state where he heard consistent appeals to bring an end to the conflict.

Less than a month after that Israeli strike on the city, the president sat close as the prime minister himself called Qatar to apologise. And later that day, the prime minister signed off on Trump's comprehensive proposal for Gaza - one that additionally had the support of key Muslim nations in the area.

Assuming the president's relationship with his counterpart gave him the ability to influence the government to strike a deal, his history with Arab rulers may have ensured their support, and helped them convince Hamas to commit to the deal.

"A key factor that evidently occurred was that President Trump gained leverage with the Israelis, and through intermediaries with Hamas," notes Jon Alterman of the a research center.

"That made a difference. The capacity to achieve this on his timing, and not succumb to the desires of the combatants has been a challenge that lot of previous presidents have struggled with, and he appears to handle with some success."

The reality that the president is much more popular in Israel than Netanyahu himself was an advantage that Trump used to his advantage, he adds.

Currently the Israeli government has committed to releasing over a thousand detainees held in its jails and has agreed to a limited pullback from Gaza.

The group will free all the remaining hostages, both alive and deceased, taken in the original 7 October Hamas attack, which caused the loss of over 1,200 Israelis.

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