Israel's parliament erupted yesterday with roaring ovations for Donald Trump.
Politicians chanted his name. But, amid all that noise, a quieter moment may end up proving more consequential.
Benjamin Netanyahu, introducing the US president to the Knesset, talked about ending the war in Gaza.
Or, at the very least, he explicitly acknowledged for the first time that President Trump’s deal is about ending the war - and not just about getting the hostages home.
That is a significant shift in his language, one clearly influenced by Mr Trump’s presence.
Mere hours earlier, Mr Netanyahu had insisted that Israel’s military campaign had not yet ended – despite the ceasefire.
Asked on Air Force One before departing for Israel about that insistence, the US President responded firmly.
"The war is over," he said.
"The war is over. Okay? You understand that?"
Mr Netanyahu was seemingly smart enough to have felt the winds of change.
He must have known that Donald Trump would say something similar under the searing lights of the Knesset.
It is always better to get ahead of the message than to be flattened by it, not least because Mr Trump does not take kindly to being contradicted in public.
The spectacle itself seemed designed to make it true. Received like a conquering hero, the US President declared the war over to thunderous applause.
The Israeli establishment, it seemed, had decided to believe him.
Yesterday, in Jerusalem, Mr Trump’s strategy seemed to be working there too. The hostages had returned.
Speaking to people on the streets, the prevailing mood was relief – not just that families were reunited, but that the war itself might actually be finished. No one was eager to go back.
If only things were that simple, though.
Last night’s peace summit in Egypt was even more whirlwind than Mr Trump's Israel visit – a few hours in Sharm el-Sheikh with over 20 world leaders, co-chaired by President Sisi.
World leaders were forced to hang about for hours waiting for him to arrive.
When he did, the format was telling: photos, a speech, the signing of documents. Then Mr Trump asked the assembled grandees to stick around for "five minutes" of private conversation before heading to the airport.
There had been vague suggestions beforehand that the truly difficult questions might be addressed at the summit: the disarmament of Hamas, the future governance of Gaza, and the complete Israeli withdrawal. They weren’t.
What emerged instead was a commitment from the other guarantor countries – Egypt, Qatar and Turkey – to formally endorse Mr Trump's full 20-point peace plan.
That is not nothing – but it is a statement of intent, not a roadmap for implementation.
Mr Trump, however, insisted the peace deal was already progressing beyond the first phase.
"It’s being worked on right now as we speak, and we’re actually in stage three and four," he said, without providing details.
Declaring the war over is one thing, but claiming to be in stage four when the terms of stage two haven’t been negotiated – let alone agreed – stretches credulity even by his standards.
That's especially true because of what's happening on the ground in Gaza.
Even as Mr Trump celebrated in Egypt, Hamas was raising serious questions about its commitment to step aside.
The group has reportedly deployed thousands of fighters to patrol Gaza’s streets – carrying rifles, often in civilian clothes. Over recent days, they've been involved in deadly clashes with other Palestinian factions.
One report suggests that Hamas killed 32 people in Gaza City, in what the group described as a security sweep against collaborators.
The heaviest fighting, though, has been with the Doghmush clan – an influential family that has long resisted Hamas’s rule.
The Sahem Unit, Hamas's internal security force, confirmed that clashes began on Saturday. It claims that "an outlaw gang" killed members of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, in Gaza City.
Some reports from inside Gaza suggest the Doghmush clan has Israeli backing, but the group's leaders have long denied that.
Either way, the pattern is clear: Hamas is consolidating power in areas Israeli forces have vacated.
Read the latest stories on the ceasefire in Gaza
The BBC reported over the weekend that Hamas had recalled 7,000 security forces and appointed five new governors, all with military backgrounds.
The militant group has flatly denied the report, calling it "deliberate fabrications".
But whether the specific numbers are accurate or not, something is undeniably happening. Armed men are patrolling the streets and rivals are being eliminated.
Hamas negotiators may be telling mediators it has accepted it must step aside - but on the ground, it is doing quite the opposite.
Declaring victory is one thing. Delivering it is another.
Donald Trump has mastered the former. However, no amount of applause can paper over the reality that this is far more complicated than he is letting on.
