Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea celebrated the election of army chief Joseph Aoun as president, ending a more than two-year vacancy.

In an interview late Thursday with MTV, Geagea said that Aoun is the first president to be elected without the influence of the ousted Syrian regime and the "Axis of Resistance". He hailed the new president for past achievements, like refusing to suppress the Oct. 17 protests in 2019 and the army's unbiased reaction to the Tayouneh clashes in 2021.

President Joseph Aoun held two meetings prior to his election with the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammad Raad and Speaker Nabih Berri’s aide MP Ali Hassan Khalil, a media report said.

Several lawmakers, including Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil opposed Thursday the election of army chief Joseph Aoun, and objected to what they saw as foreign interference.

In an interview with LBCI, Bassil said that Parliament had received directives from foreign countries, but that still having a president is better than void.

U.S. and Israeli officials believe that Joseph Aoun’s election as president in Lebanon “will increase the pressure on Israel to complete the withdrawal of its forces from south Lebanon by the end of January,” Israel’s Walla news portal has reported.

Following the election of army chief General Joseph Aoun as the country’s new president, caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim signed a decree appointing Army chief of staff Maj. Gen. Hassan Audi as acting army commander.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will on Saturday make his first official trip to neighboring Syria since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, his office told AFP.

Mikati's office said Friday the trip came at the invitation of the country's new de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa during a phone call last week.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Friday with newly elected president Joseph Aoun at the Presidential Palace in Baabda.

Mikati said he discussed with the new president the situation in south Lebanon and stressed that the Israeli army must completely withdraw from south Lebanon and stop violating the ceasefire reached in November.

Qatar praised the election of Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun as president, calling for "stability" after the more than two year vacancy was filled.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Lebanon will overcome the "repercussions of Israeli aggression" under the leadership of its new president, Joseph Aoun.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said the election of army chief Joseph Aoun as Lebanon's new president was a chance for "reforms and change" in the war-ravaged country.

"After many years of crisis and stagnation, this is a moment of opportunity to bring about reforms and change," Baerbock said on social media platform X. "Germany stands by the side of the people of Lebanon on the way forward."