
Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati commended his government on Monday during a ceremony at the Grand Serail, as Lebanon transitions to a new cabinet to be formed by Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam. Addressing members of his outgoing administration, Mikati reflected on their tenure, describing it as "one of the most challenging periods in the nation’s history." He highlighted the toll of "economic, political, and social crises, Israeli aggression, deaths, and destruction," according to the National News Agency (NNA).
"We have fulfilled our constitutional duty with tenacity, conscience and open-mindedness and wish Prime Minister Nawaf Salam a successful process of development and rescue [of the country]."
In October 2023, following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Hezbollah's opening of the Gaza 'support front,' Mikati sought "to prevent Lebanon from going to war." While expressing his efforts to avert escalation, he acknowledged that he "could not rule out a possible escalation." Without being able to reassure the Lebanese, Mikati said that Hezbollah was acting "with wisdom and reason."
The conflict in Lebanon, which began on Oct. 8, 2023, and concluded on Nov. 27, 2024, with a fragile cease-fire frequently violated by Israel, killed nearly 4,000 people and wounded more than 16,500.