Lebanon's newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, said Thursday that "a new phase" has started for the war-ravaged country and pledged to rebuild the state, adopt a policy of "positive neutrality" and fight corruption.

Lebanon’s parliament chose the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.

After years of gridlock, Lebanon’s parliament elected Aoun, the chief military commander, as president. His win could unlock money for postwar reconstruction.

Lebanon lawmakers elected army commander Joseph Aoun as the country’s first president in more than two years, picking a U.S.-backed candidate in a sign of Iran’s waning influence in the region.

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.

Aoun, a 60-year-old career soldier, became the fifth Lebanese army commander to be elected as president in Lebanon's history, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the post. Since taking over the army command in 2017,

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.