Lebanon army chief elected president, drawing Israeli hopes for postwar stability

Lebanon’s lawmakers elected on Thursday army chief Joseph Aoun as president on Thursday, ending a stalemate that left the post vacant for two years, in a step toward lifting the war-battered country out of financial ruin and solidifying a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group.

Israel was swift to congratulate Beirut on picking Aoun, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar expressed hope for “good neighborliness” as the new Lebanese leader indicated that he would keep Hezbollah on a tight leash and uphold the fragile truce that ended its fight with Israel in late November.

Aoun was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild following Israel’s campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The session was the legislature’s 13th attempt to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose term ended in October 2022. The two Aouns are not related.

Hezbollah had previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Frangieh, the leader of a small Christian party in northern Lebanon with close ties to deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. However, on Wednesday, Frangieh announced he had withdrawn from the race and endorsed Aoun, clearing the way for the army chief.

“The president is Joseph Aoun,” Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, said after 99 lawmakers out of 128 backed his candidacy.

Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington DC-based Middle East Institute said that the military and political weakening of Hezbollah following more than a year of conflict with Israel — which it initiated — and the fall of fellow Iran-backed ally Assad in Syria, along with international pressure to elect a president had paved the way for Thursday’s results.

Aoun, who turns 61 on Friday, arrived inside parliament to swear his oath to general applause, wearing a dark suit and bright blue tie instead of his usual military uniform.

“A new phase in the history of Lebanon begins today,” he told the chamber, adding that he would call for “quick parliamentary consultations” on naming a new prime minister.

Aoun also vowed to ensure that the state would have “a monopoly” on the right to carry arms, referring to the Hezbollah terror group’s extensive arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Lebanese forces have failed to uphold two UN Security Council resolutions demanding the disarmament of all of Lebanon’s various militias, and the withdrawal of Hezbollah north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from its border with Israel.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah signed in late November is the latest attempt by the US to encourage the Lebanese army to enforce the 19-year-old measure. Under the deal, Israel has until January 26 to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon.

Aoun said that under his leadership, “the Lebanese state — I repeat the Lebanese state” would discuss a “comprehensive defense strategy” to ensure the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from southern Lebanon “and deter its aggression.”

The statement was met with loud applause from lawmakers, although Hezbollah parliamentarians sat sill.

He promised to rebuild south Lebanon and other parts of the country he said had been destroyed by the fighting with Israel.

“Today, a new phase in the history of Lebanon begins,” he said.

Despite the two nations’ official status as enemies, Israel’s Foreign Minister Sa’ar congratulated Lebanon on Aoun’s election, and expressed hope that it would “contribute to strengthening stability, a better future for Lebanon and its residents, and good neighborliness.”

US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson said she was “very happy” with Aoun’s election as president.

His election reflected shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Iran significantly weakened by Hezbollah’s heavy losses at the hands of Israel as well as the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria.

It also indicated a revival of Saudi influence in a country where Riyadh’s role was eclipsed by Iran and Hezbollah long ago.

Iran’s embassy in Beirut nevertheless welcomed Aoun’s election and expressed hope for close cooperation between the two countries.

“We congratulate brotherly Lebanon for the election of General Joseph Aoun,” said the embassy in a statement on X, adding that “we look forward to working together… and to cooperate in different fields in a way that serves the common interests for our countries.”

As the head of the Lebanese military, Aoun had been tasked with upholding the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside United Nations observers in the south of the country as Israel withdraws its troops over a 60-day period. At the same time, Hezbollah is to pull its forces north of the Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

The ceasefire was implemented to put an end to more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which began when the Iran-backed terror group took it upon itself to start firing at Israeli communities and military posts on October 8, 2023, in the wake of the deadly Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel a day prior.

Israel escalated the campaign against the terror group in September 2024, decimating its leadership and much of its capabilities, in a bid to end the persistent rocket fire that had displaced some 60,000 northerners.

The IDF has continued to carry out strikes against Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure in south Lebanon. It has denied violating the terms of the ceasefire, saying that the strikes have targeted Hezbollah’s violations.

Israel has suggested that it does not believe the Lebanese army will be able to meet its obligations within the expected timeframe, although a senior US army official praised it for the pace at which it is assuming control of the areas previously held by Hezbollah.

Israeli forces have so far withdrawn from the southern Lebanon town of Khiam and the Lebanese military said on Monday that it had started deploying troops around the town of Naqura in parallel with Israel’s withdrawal, as well.

Aoun’s election came hours after the IDF said it had carried out a drone strike in southern Lebanon after identifying suspects loading a vehicle with weapons that the military said were being taken from buildings used by Hezbollah.

An Israeli Air Force drone struck the vehicles carrying the weapons “to remove the threat,” the IDF said.

מוקדם יותר היום, זוהו מספר חשודים שהעמיסו אמצעי לחימה מתוך מבנים צבאיים ששימשו את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, על כלי רכב בדרום לבנון.

כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקפו להסרת האיום את אמצעי הלחימה שהיו על כלי הרכב>> pic.twitter.com/Rq2ZNfY5HU

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 9, 2025

In Aoun’s home village of Aishiyeh in south Lebanon, supporters erupted in celebration in front of a church adorned with Lebanese flags and his portrait Thursday, an AFP reporter said.

Alongside the daunting task of overseeing the ceasefire with Israel, Aoun must now name a prime minister to lead reforms demanded by international creditors to save the country from the worst economic crisis of its history.

Aoun is Lebanon’s fifth army commander to become president, and the fourth in a row. Under multi-confessional Lebanon’s power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, as do military chiefs.

The president’s powers have been reduced since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. But filling the position is key to overseeing consultations toward naming a new prime minister to lead a government capable of carrying out reforms demanded by international creditors.

Despite Hezbollah’s new leader promising to help stabilize Lebanon and elect a new president, lawmakers from the pro-Hezbollah bloc voted blank in the first round of the vote on Thursday morning, a source close to them said, leaving Aoun short of the required two-thirds majority to win outright.

The source said representatives from the bloc met Aoun at the parliament during a break before lawmakers returned for a second vote. Several lawmakers in the second round still objected to what they said was foreign interference in the vote.

In protest, some rendered their ballot void by voting for “sovereignty and the constitution,” a reference to the fact that Aoun’s election would have technically required a constitutional amendment.

Under Lebanon’s constitution, any presidential candidate must have not held high office for at least two years.

In the first round, one lawmaker sarcastically cast a vote for the Saudi envoy to Lebanon, Yazid Al Farhan. During the second round, one chose former US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Critics have accused Hezbollah and allies of scuppering previous votes.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.