The hostages are free. That – not the bombastic and performative speech given to the Knesset by Donald Trump, or the self-congratulatory and ingratiating performance by the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu – was the most important event of a historic day.
Stating that fact is not to take anything away from President Trump’s personal diplomacy – which has been a critical factor in delivering the ceasefire, the release of the hostages, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and other detainees, and the hopes for a wider peace – but it feels like a necessary corrective at a moment when, understandably, emotions are running high and the air is thick with hyperbole and sycophancy.
