The Lebanese Army said it had responded to incoming fire from across the Syrian border on Saturday, two days after the new authorities in Damascus said they had launched operations against smugglers in the area.

EU High Representative Kaja Kallas on Saturday warmly congratulated Lebanon on the formation of a new government, wishing Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the entire government "full success in delivering on the aspirations of the Lebanese people."

"I extend my congratulations in particular to Youssef Rajji for his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, and look forward to engaging with him," she added.

Below are the names of the new government’s ministers as announced by Council of Ministers Secretary-General Mahmoud Makkiyeh:

The United Nations welcomed the formation of a new government in Lebanon on Saturday, which ended more than two years under a caretaker cabinet.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Saturday welcomed the formation of a new government in Lebanon, despite the latest remarks by Deputy U.S. Envoy for Middle East Morgan Ortagus, who warned against Hezbollah’s participation in the new cabinet.

Lebanon's prime minister named a new government on Saturday, the presidency announced, after an agreement was reached to appoint Fadi Makki as the so-called "fifth Shiite minister." Makki will serve as State Minister for Administrative Development.

Premier Nawaf Salam vowed to "restore confidence between citizens and the state, between Lebanon and its Arab surroundings, and between Lebanon and the international community" and to implement reforms needed to bring the country out of an extended economic crisis.

The atmosphere is positive regarding the naming of the so-called “fifth Shiite minister” in the new cabinet and PM-designate Nawaf Salam might visit the Baabda Palace in the afternoon, MTV reported on Saturday.

President Joseph Aoun and Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa discussed fighting that has broken out on the border between the two countries “and agreed to coordinate to control the situation and prevent targeting civilians,” Aoun’s office said in a statement.

Clashes have been ongoing for three days between Syrian security forces and Lebanese clans in the border area.

The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, slammed comments by visiting U.S. official Morgan Ortagus on Friday as "blatant interference" in Lebanon's affairs.

Ortagus's statement was "full of malice and irresponsibility" and attacked a component of "Lebanese political life", Raad said in a statement, adding that the remarks amounted to "blatant interference in Lebanon's sovereignty".

The Lebanese judge investigating the 2020 Beirut port explosion questioned two people on Friday in connection with the deadly blast after a years-long pause, a judicial official said.

Judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation last month, charging 10 people including security, customs and military personnel after a two-year hiatus in the probe into the August 4, 2020 explosion that killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated swathes of Lebanon's capital.