Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dispatched a top-tier delegation to Qatar in an effort to finalise a hostage-ceasefire deal with the Hamas terror group, his office announced on Saturday night.

The delegation includes Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet director Ron Bar, retired IDF Major General and hostage negotiator Nitzan Alon, and Netanyahu’s political advisor Ophir Falk.

The decision followed a high-level situation assessment meeting chaired by Netanyahu, with Defense Minister Israel Katz, senior Israeli security officials, and representatives from both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration also in attendance.

Earlier in the day, Netanyahu met with Trump’s incoming US Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Jerusalem.

Hamas sources indicated on Saturday that a ceasefire agreement was “completed” and pending Netanyahu’s final approval.

Israeli officials, however, remain cautiously optimistic, with Channel 13 news quoting two sources involved in the negotiations as describing the discussions as showing “general cautious progress.”

The Qatar-hosted talks have been an essential point in efforts to secure the release of hostages and establish a temporary ceasefire amid ongoing tensions.

As they filed into the front pews at Washington National Cathedral, wearing dark suits and mostly solemn faces, five current and former presidents came together for Jimmy Carter’s funeral. During a service that stretched more than an hour, the feuding, grievances and enmity that had marked their rival campaigns and divergent politics gave way to a reverential moment for one of their own.

Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the first two of the group to take their seats Thursday, shook hands and chatted at length. Trump, the former president who will retake the Oval Office in 11 days, leaned in and listened intently to his predecessor, notwithstanding the political chasm between them. At times, the two flashed smiles.

Trump later returned to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida Thursday night to meet with Republican governors and refused to say what he and Obama discussed, but joked, “It did look very friendly, I must say.”

“I didn’t realize how friendly it looked. I said, ‘Boy they look like two people who like each other and we probably do,” he said. “We have little different philosophies, right, but we probably do.”

The president-elect added, “I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.”

Obama, who attended Carter’s funeral without his wife, Michelle, shared a second-row pew with former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with their spouses. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived last and sat in the pew just in front of them.

Members of the exclusive presidents’ club were on their best behavior. Bonded by the presidency, they rarely criticize one another or the White House’s current occupant — though Trump has flouted those rules frequently. He has both praised and criticized Carter in recent days, and he complained that flags will still be at half-staff to honor the deceased president during his inauguration.

In one seemingly chilly moment, Trump looked up when Vice President Kamala Harris — whom he defeated in November’s hard-fought election — entered the cathedral, but he didn’t move to greet her as she and husband Doug Emhoff took seats directly in front of him and Melania Trump. Nor did Harris acknowledge him.

After the service, Emhoff made a point to turn around and shake hands with Trump.

Obama, with Trump on his left, also turned to his right to chat with Bush. Clinton, with wife Hillary, was the last of the ex-presidents to take a seat and got in some chatter with Bush as well.

The White House said the former presidents also met privately before taking their seats. There was no word on what was said then, though Trump said later of its participants, “We all got along very well.”

Funerals are among the few events that bring members of the presidents’ club together. In a way, former President Gerald Ford was there, too: Ford’s son Steven read a eulogy for Carter that Ford had written before he died in 2006.

Busy with personal pursuits, charitable endeavors and sometimes lucrative speaking gigs, the former leaders don’t mingle often. They all know the protocol of state funerals well — each has been involved in planning his own.

During the 2018 funeral for George H.W. Bush, then-President Trump sat with his predecessors and their spouses, including the Carters, and the interactions were stiff and sometimes awkward.

This time, Trump also didn’t appear to interact with Hillary Clinton, whom he defeated in the 2016 election.

Trump was seated in the pew in front of his former vice president, Mike Pence — one of the few times they have coincided at events since Pence refused to overturn the results of the 2020 election after Trump lost to Biden. The two shook hands but didn’t speak much beyond that. Pence’s wife, Karen, appeared to avoid engaging with the president-elect.

Trump, who largely avoided contact with the former presidents during his first term — and pointedly did not seek their advice — has been critical of Republican former presidents, particularly the Bush family, which made him an uneasy member of the former presidents’ club. Carter himself didn’t particularly relish being a member of the club, at times criticizing its staid traditions.

Many past presidents have built relationships with their predecessors, including Bill Clinton, who reached out to Richard Nixon for advice on Russian policy, and Harry S. Truman, who sought counsel from Herbert Hoover.

One of the first calls Obama made after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 was to George W. Bush to spread the word that the mission had been accomplished, said Kate Andersen Brower, author of “Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump.”

“It’s the loneliest job in the world, so usually they reach out and rely on each other,” said Andersen Brower. “But Trump didn’t have that the first term, so this will just be another four years where he doesn’t depend on anyone who came before him.”

She noted that Carter spent years as a proud Washington outsider and skipped the unveiling of his own portrait to avoid being in the same room with the man who beat him in 1980, President Ronald Reagan.

“Carter and Trump, even though they have the least in common about everything else, are similar,” Andersen Brower said, “in just how they approach telling what they actually think.”

Lebanon’s army chief, Gen. Joseph Aoun, was elected president on Thursday after a more than two-year vacuum at the top position in the country amid deepening political rivalries, economic and financial strains and growing instability.

Aoun, who has been commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces since 2017, secured 99 votes out of 128 during the second round of a parliament session called by its speaker, Nabih Berri. During the first round of voting earlier on Thursday, Aoun received 71 votes, short of the 86 required to become president.

Article 49 of the Lebanese constitution prohibits serving government employees and members of the armed forces from running for president unless they secure two-thirds majority of the vote. Aoun therefore required a minimum of 86 parliamentary votes and not just a simple majority (65) to circumvent this rule.

In his first speech to the parliament as president, Aoun pledged to uphold Lebanon’s unity and sovereignty while asserting the state’s exclusive authority over all weapons in the country. “My mandate will emphasize the state’s right to monopolize arms,” he said, without mentioning the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah by name.

The breakthrough followed intense regional and international diplomacy led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others. Thursday’s session followed the implementation of a 60-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel brokered by the United States, which took effect on Nov. 27, 2024. The ceasefire, which is up for renewal on Jan. 25, ended a 13-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The Lebanese military plays a central role in implementing the arrangement.

Lebanon has been without a president since October 2022, when the term of Hezbollah-backed President Michel Aoun (no relation) concluded. Since then, the country’s fractured parliament has failed in 12 attempts to elect a new president, leaving Lebanon with a caretaker government operating with limited powers.

Regional and international actors, including Saudi Arabia and the United States, have ramped up diplomatic efforts in an apparent bid to secure the election of Aoun.

As the head of Lebanon’s army, Aoun has built a reputation for personal integrity. Many view him as incorruptible and a stabilizing figure for the nation.

Who is Joseph Aoun?

Aoun was born to a Maronite Christian family in 1964 in the Sin el-Fil suburb of the Metn district, east of the capital Beirut. His family hails from the town of Aishiye in south Lebanon, making him the first president in the history of the republic from that region.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with a focus in international affairs from the Lebanese American University and another bachelor’s in military science, according to the LAF website. In addition to his native Arabic language, Aoun is fluent in English and French.

He is married to Nehmat Nehmeh and together they have two children, Khalil and Nour. The family attended the second round of the vote on Thursday.

Aoun’s military journey began in 1983, when he first enlisted in the army. He was subsequently promoted until he reached the rank of general and was then appointed as the LAF commander in March 2017, succeeding Gen. Jean Kahwaji.

He has had his mandate extended twice: In December 2023, the Lebanese Parliament approved a one-year extension of Aoun’s term. He was scheduled to retire in January 2024. Again, on Nov. 28, 2024, weeks before his tenure was set to expire on Jan. 10, 2025, Aoun’s term was renewed for an additional year.

Aoun underwent intensive military training both in Lebanon and abroad. In 1996, he went to Syria to receive commando training, and then again between October 2002 and April 2003 he trained in the neighboring country to become a battalion commander.

He also attended an international defense management course in the United States in 1999 and another international counter terrorism program between 2008 and 2009.

Military achievements

Aoun’s military career gained prominence in 2015, when he was appointed commander of the 9th Brigade, tasked with operations along the border with Israel. Just a year later, he was reassigned to eastern Lebanon, near the Syrian border, where Islamist militants had established strongholds.

Under his leadership, the LAF led in August 2017 the so-called Fajr al-Joroud battle against the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra in the barren lands (joroud) of Ras Baalbeck and al-Qaa in eastern Lebanon along the border with Syria.

The swift operation, which lasted less than two weeks, saw the killing of more than 150 jihadists, according to the army. A total of seven soldiers were killed in the battles, while the remains of eight soldiers who were kidnapped in 2014 and later executed by ISIS were found in the outskirts of Arsal. Aoun at the time said the military achieved a “decisive victory against terrorism.”

More recently, during the cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted on Oct. 8, 2023, the Lebanese Armed Forces maintained a neutral stance. Despite this, the LAF faced attacks on its positions and personnel in southern Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of at least 40 soldiers. The conflict claimed nearly 4,000 lives and left over 16,500 people injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.