Ships in Beirut Port sounded their sirens in celebration of the election of General Joseph Aoun as President of the Republic.

Lebanon's 128-member parliament on Thursday elected Army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun as the country's new president after the post remained vacant for more than 26 months.

Lebanon’s parliament has elected Joseph Aoun, the country’s army chief, as president, ending a two-year political deadlock that left the nation without a head of state. Aoun, 60, secured the presidency after gaining the backing of key political parties and international support from the United States,

The election of army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun garnered rare consensus among the Lebanese, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the first presidential election for Lebanon following the fall of the Assad regime.

General Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese army commander who was elected president on Thursday, kept his military on the sidelines of a recent war between Israel and armed group Hezbollah, ordering it to prioritise civil peace even as troops were killed.

A devastating economic crisis, a political power vacuum, massive corruption and most recently the war between Hezbollah and Israel: For a long time, things were not looking good for Lebanon. But, after two years without a president,

Following 13 attempts to elect a president, Lebanon’s parliament has sworn in army commander Joseph Aoun as the head of state. Mr. Aoun is the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia.

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.

The Uniited Nations Security Council has welcomed the election of a Lebanese president. Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect army commander Joseph Aoun as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.