The Jerusalem Post reports: “Lebanese lawmakers elected army chief Joseph Aoun as head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys US approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.

‘I will work to ensure that the right to carry arms is exclusive to the state,’ Aoun said after his election was announced. ‘I promise to reconstruct what Israel destroyed in the south, and Beirut’s southern suburbs.’

‘We will work towards the best of relations with Arab countries,’ he continued. ‘We have a historic opportunity to reestablish relations with Syria.’  

He also stated that this election marks a new phase in the history of Lebanon…”