Nawaf Salam, the head of the International Court of Justice, won enough support to become Lebanon's next prime minister after a majority of lawmakers backed him for the post on Monday, a big blow to Hezbollah which accused opponents of working to exclude it.

With top general’s election, the United States and Saudi Arabia aim to draw Lebanon further from Iran. To do that, a new government has to convince Hezbollah that their days of armed resistance are over.

The Shi'ite group and its ally the Shi'ite Amal Movement had been due to tell Aoun they wanted caretaker Prime Minister Nabib Mikati to stay in the post, which is reserved for a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon's sectarian political system.