Caretaker Minister of Defense, Maurice Sleem, wrote a letter to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, notifying him that "the Ministry of Defense is taking the necessary steps through administrative procedures to definitively fill the expected vacancy in the leadership of the army, ensuring its continuity in these two main institutions and the Chief of Staff position."

"This is in accordance with the agreements reached in meetings with the Cabinet and in compliance with constitutional provisions and applicable legal texts,” Sleem concluded.