When Israel attacked the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar, it looked like a new escalation of violence that pushed the prospect of peace even further away.

That September 9 airstrike violated the sovereignty of an American ally and threatened to expand the conflict into regional war.

Diplomacy appeared to be in shambles.

Instead, it turned out to be a watershed moment that led to an agreement, announced by US President Donald Trump, for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.

This is a goal he, and before him, President Joe Biden, had sought for nearly two years.

It is only the first step toward a more lasting peace, with the details of Hamas disarmament, Gaza governance, and a full Israeli withdrawal still to be negotiated.

But if this deal holds, it could be Trump's most significant achievement of his second term—one that eluded Biden and his diplomatic team.

Trump's unique style and crucial relationships with Israel and the Arab world appear to have contributed to this breakthrough. But, as with most diplomatic achievements, there were also factors at play beyond the control of either leader.

A Close Relationship Biden Never Had

In public, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu often beam.

Trump likes to say that Israel has no better friend, and Netanyahu has described him as “Israel's greatest ally in the White House.” And these warm words have been matched by deeds.

During his first term, Trump moved the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and abandoned the long-held US position that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank are illegal under international law.

When Israel began its airstrikes on Iran in June, Trump ordered US bombers to strike the country's nuclear enrichment facilities with their most powerful conventional explosives. Such public displays of support may have given the American leeway to apply more pressure on his Israeli counterpart behind the scenes. Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff,Reportedly pressured Netanyahu in late 2024 to agree to a temporary cease-fire in exchange for the release of some hostages. When Israel launched attacks on Syrian forces in July, including the bombing of a Christian church, Trump pressured Netanyahu to reverse course. Trump displayed a degree of will and pressure on an Israeli prime minister that was virtually unprecedented, says Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “There is no example of an American president literally telling an Israeli prime minister that they will have to obey or else…”

Biden's relationship with the Netanyahu government was always more tense.

His administration's so-called “bear hug” strategy held that the United States should publicly embrace Israel to allow it to moderate the country's warfighting conduct privately.

Behind this lay nearly half a century of support for Israel, as well as deep divisions within his Democratic coalition over the Gaza war.

Every step Biden took risked fracturing his own domestic support, while Trump's solid Republican base gave him more room to maneuver.

In the end, domestic politics or personal relationships may have mattered less than the simple fact that, under Biden, Israel was not ready for peace.

Eight months into Trump's second term, with Iran With Hezbollah chastened in the north, Hezbollah severely chastened depleted, and Gaza in ruins, all of its major strategic objectives had been met.

A Turning Point

The Israeli missile attack in Doha, which killed one Qatari citizen but no Hamas officials, prompted Trump to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu.

The war had to stop.

Trump had given Israel relative freedom in Gaza. He lent American military might to the Israeli campaign in Iran. But an attack on Qatari soil was an entirely different matter, bringing him closer to the Arab position on how best to end the war.

Several Trump administration officials have told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that this was a turning point that prompted the president to exert maximum pressure for a peace deal.

This American president's close ties with the Gulf countries are well documented. He maintains trade relations with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He began his two presidential terms with state visits to Saudi Arabia. This year, he also visited Doha and Abu Dhabi.

The so-called Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Muslim states, including the United Arab Emirates, were the greatest diplomatic achievement of his first term.

His time spent in Arabian Peninsula capitals earlier this year contributed to his change of heart, says Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The US president did not visit Israel on this trip to the Middle East, but he did go to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, where he heard repeated calls to end the war.

Less than a month after the Israeli attack on Doha, Trump sat nearby as Netanyahu personally called Qatar to apologize.

And later that day, the Israeli leader signed Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which also had the backing of major Muslim nations in the region.

If Trump's relationship with Netanyahu gave him leeway to pressure Israel into a deal, his history with Muslim leaders may have secured their support and helped convince Hamas to commit to the.

“One of the factors that clearly played a role was that President Trump developed influence with the Israelis, and indirectly with Hamas,” says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) agreement.

“That made the difference. His ability to act in a timely manner. and not bend to the wishes of the combatants has been a problem that many previous presidents have struggled with, and he seems to have been relatively successful at doing that.”

The fact that Trump is far more popular in Israel than Netanyahu himself was an advantage he used to his advantage, he adds.

Now Israel has pledged to release more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails and has agreed to a partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas will release to all remaining hostages, living and dead, taken during the October 7 attack, which killed more than 1,200 Israelis.

An end to the war, which has devastated Gaza and left more than 67,000 Palestinians dead, is now imaginable.

Europeans exerted their influence

Global condemnation of Israel for its actions in Gaza also influenced Trump's stance.

The conditions on the ground are unprecedented in terms of destruction and humanitarian catastrophe for the Palestinians. In recent months, the Netanyahu government found itself increasingly isolated internationally.

When Israel seized military control of food supplies to the Palestinians and announced a planned attack on Gaza City, several major European countries, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, decided they could no longer align themselves with Washington's stance of unequivocal support for Israel.

A historic split ensued between the Americans and their European allies over key elements of diplomacy and the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Trump administration sharply criticized France when it declared it would recognize a Palestinian state, a move also supported by the United Kingdom.

They were trying to keep the idea of ????a two-state solution on hold, but, crucially,to marginalize the extremes on both sides and revive a diplomatic path toward a shared Israeli-Palestinian future.

But Macron was shrewd in selling the Saudis on his plan to peace.

Ultimately, Trump faced a Euro-Arab alliance against Israeli nationalists and the far right when it came to visions for the long-term future of Gaza. He chose his Gulf friends.

As part of a Franco-Saudi peace plan, Arab countries also issued an unprecedented condemnation of the Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanded that the group end its rule over Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) under independent statehood.