Aoun was born on 10 January 1964, in the Beirut suburb of Sin el-Fil in the Metn District, the child of Hoda Ibrahim Makhlouta and Khalil Aoun.[3] He completed secondary school at the Collège des Frères Mont La Salle. His family is originally from the town of Al-Aaishiyah, Southern Lebanon.
Aoun joined the Lebanese army in 1983 and enrolled in the military academy during the Lebanese civil war.[7] He trained abroad, especially in the United States and Syria. He also underwent counter-terrorism training in the United States in 2008 and Lebanon in 2013. He became head of the army's 9th Infantry Brigade in 2015.
In 2015, Aoun was appointed commander of the 9th Brigade deployed on the border with Israel. On 8 March 2017, the Lebanese government appointed him commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), replacing Jean Kahwaji.[11]
Aoun led battles against the Islamic State campaign in eastern Lebanon, where hundreds of Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front militants were entrenched on the border with Syria.[5] On 19 August 2017, he commanded the Jroud Dawn Operation, a successful offensive to expel the militants from their strongholds.[12]
Following protests in Lebanon and the political deadlock, General Aoun spoke out on 8 March 2021 criticising the Lebanese liquidity crisis and its impact on the military. His speech went viral on social media.[13]
Aoun meeting with Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg in February 2024
Aoun's possible presidential candidacy was first raised by Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in July 2022 who suggested that he would make a good successor to Michel Aoun.[16] Qatar declared support for his candidacy during a visit by officials as they vowed to support the army with financial and military aid; the United States followed with support.[17]
In December 2022, a five-nation group was formed by the Doha envoy which involved the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt to hold talks and resolve the presidential vacancy in Lebanon in which most countries affirmed their support for Aoun's election.[18]Walid Jumblatt was the first to officially announce that the Democratic Gathering bloc, that he leads, would elect him.[19] On 9 January, opposition groups including the Kataeb party, the Renewal Bloc, and the Lebanese Forces issued a joint statement in support of Aoun.[20]
Presidency (2025-present)
Election
On 9 January 2025, Aoun was elected president in the second round of the electoral session.[21] In his inaugural address, he vowed to fight the mafias, drug trafficking, interference in the justice system, corruption, poverty, and sectarianism. He also stated that he would promote economic, political, and judicial reform.[22][23] He also said: "The Lebanese state – I repeat the Lebanese state – will get rid of the Israeli occupation",[24] while also vowing that he would work "to affirm the state’s right to a monopoly on the carrying of arms".[25]
His election was criticized by some opposition members who argued that the Lebanese constitution bars a sitting army commander from being elected president, a ban that has been waived multiple times, which prompted some MPs to place a protest vote.[26] However, precedent has made it possible that a sitting officer is elected president, if he gets 86 votes in Parliament which is the required number of votes to amend the constitution, notably the 1998 election of Emile Lahoud.
Cabinet of Nawaf Salam
In one of his first acts as president, Aoun nominated Nawaf Salam, the head of the International Court of Justice, as Prime Minister of Lebanon after winning the majority of votes by the members of parliament.[27] Hezbollah's parliamentary leader Mohammad Raad stated that Hezbollah "extended its hand" by helping to secure Aoun's election only to find the "hand cut off" accusing the opposition of fragmentation and exclusion from power in Lebanon.[28] Salam and Aoun's election is seen as a manifestation of Hezbollah's diminished influence in Lebanese politics, partly due to the group's military and financial losses in the conflict with Israel and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.[29][30]
Personal life
Aoun is married to Nehmat Nehmeh. They have two children, Khalil and Nour. He is fluent in Arabic, French and English.[31][32]
^The standard spelling of the name jōzēf is Arabic: جوزيف but the standard spelling in Lebanon is Arabic: جوزاف due to the Imāla in the Lebanese (Beiruti) dialect. Both spellings appear across different media sources.
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