Lebanon appointed a new army chief and heads of three security agencies on Thursday as the government seeks to firm up state authority, especially in the country's south, following the militant Hezbollah group's devastating war with Israel.
The appointments also come after Lebanese political faction in January overcame a crippling, two-year deadlock, electing a president, Joseph Aoun, a former army chief, and forming a new government under Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
A US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November, halting nearly 14 months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. The militants began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war last September.
In announcing the new appointments, Aoun also said that five Lebanese nationals detained by Israeli troops during the fighting have been released following indirect negotiations.
Morgan Ortagus, deputy special envoy for Middle East in the Trump administration, told Lebanon's Al Jadeed television on Tuesday that the five were a mix of soldiers and civilians. Ortagus said she was confident Lebanon and Israel would resolve outstanding territorial disputes.
