The political theatre of Donald Trump's Middle East trip masks glaring questions about the peace plan It was a day of high human emotion and high political spectacle.

Finally, after 738 days, Israeli hostages who had been kept in horrendous conditions in Gaza were coming home to their families as part of a ceasefire deal seeing the hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and a partial pullback of Israeli forces.

And, at least for now, Israel had stopped its indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza, which has left more than 67,000 people dead, thousands more injured and a population of more than 2 million starving, traumatised and displaced ...

,,,The timing of the release of the hostages — which was delayed from the original proposal — seemed conveniently close to the arrival of the US leader in Tel Aviv.

US Vice-President JD Vance even said Trump planned to welcome the hostages in person: the ultimate photo opportunity.

So much of the coverage of what has been happening — like almost global stories these days — has focused on Trump, his role in the deal and his big … personality.

Trump's unconventional and often haphazard approach to diplomacy means there are countless questions about what has driven the US president to date, and what might determine whether he stays engaged in the Middle East peace process in the future ...