Lebanon government named after two-year caretaker cabinet

Lebanon’s presidency announced on Saturday that a new government had been formed, ending more than two years of an interim cabinet.

President Joseph Aoun signed three decrees, the presidency said in a post on X, one “accepting the resignation of (caretaker) prime minister Najib Mikati’s government,” another “appointing Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to form the government,” and a final one “to form a government of 24 ministers.”

Salam said his newly-formed cabinet will strive to be a “government of reform and salvation,” pledging to rebuild trust with the international community after a devastating Israel-Hezbollah war.

“I hope this will be a government of reform and salvation,” Salam said in a televised statement moments after his cabinet was announced, adding it will strive to “restore trust between citizens and the state, between Lebanon and its Arab surrounding, and between Lebanon and the international community.”