Lebanon's newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, said Thursday that "a new phase" has started for the war-ravaged country and pledged to rebuild the state, adopt a policy of "positive neutrality" and fight corruption.

Lebanese government bonds extended their three-month-long rally on Thursday as the crisis-ravaged country's parliament voted in a new head of state for the first time since 2022.

As the country endured economic crisis and a devastating war, lawmakers failed 12 times to pick a head of state. They have now settled on Joseph Aoun, the leader of the military.

Lebanon’s parliament chose the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.

General Joseph Aoun was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States, which funds, trains, and arms the Lebanese military and helped broker a cease-fire between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in November.

General Joseph Aoun secured 99 votes from the 128-seat parliament, after winning an endorsement from the Hezbollah-backed candidate. The career soldier is the fifth army commander to be elected president in Lebanon’s history.

The Biden administration in its final days is shifting more than $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon as it tries to bolster a ceasefire agreement it helped mediate between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon's parliament has elected the country's army chief as president, ending a power vacuum that has lasted more than two years. Joseph Aoun's candidacy was backed by several political parties, as well as the US, France and Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect army commander Joseph Aoun as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum. The vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking

Lebanon’s Parliament chose a U.S.-trained general as president, ending a two-year vacancy in a sign of Hezbollah’s waning influence.

Lebanon’s parliament is set to convene Thursday to attempt to elect a head of state for the 13th time during a presidential vacuum of over two years.