Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri hinted Thursday that he intends to cooperate with all parties in the coming period.

“If the country’s interest requires an understanding with everyone, then the country’s interest should come first,” Hariri told reporters.

Saad Hariri was tasked with forming a new government Thursday, a year after he was toppled amid nationwide protests against widespread corruption and a flunking economy.

President Michel Aoun designated Hariri to form the next government after a slight majority of votes from lawmakers, securing the return of an old name to lead the country desperate for change.

Saad Hariri's supporters fired celebratory gunfire in the northern city of Tripoli on Thursday after he was named as prime minister-designate.

A medical source told AFP the shooting wounded three including an elderly man and someone cleaning in front of his shop.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday expressed “optimism” about cooperation between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in the coming period.

“The atmosphere is optimistic between President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Saad Hariri,” Berri told reporters while leaving the Baabda Palace.

UNIFIL on Thursday observed United Nations Day at its headquarters in south Lebanon, with its head reaffirming the U.N. Mission's "commitment to maintain the cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel while allowing space for a long-term solution of the conflict between the two countries," the U.N. force said.

“In reaffirming UNIFIL’s commitment to maintain and solidify the cessation of hostilities, I urge all of you to keep working with the utmost dedication and towards sustained peace for south Lebanon,” said the UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col, during the U.N. Day ceremony attended by UNIFIL personnel and local dignitaries.

After his designation to form the new government on Thursday, Premier-designate Saad Hariri held protocol consultations with ex-PMs Salim Hoss, Najib Miqati, Fouad Saniora, Tammam Salam and Hassan Diab.

A statement issued by Hariri’s press office said the consultations were held over the phone for security reasons.

Do not count on “miracles, foreign elections or external donors – the rescue must start in Lebanon, by Lebanon,” U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis said Thursday, shortly after ex-PM Saad Hariri was named to form a new government.

“No country, moreover #Lebanon in catastrophic freefall can survive endlessly without an effective pro-reform government as the only way to start rescuing the country and its people from further collapse, from chaos and extremism,” Kubis tweeted.

A leading international human rights group on Thursday said a Lebanon-led probe into the devastating port explosion in Beirut this summer has been marred by political meddling and lack of judicial independence, resulting in failure to yield credible results two months later.

Human Rights Watch called for a United Nations-led inquiry into the causes of the blast to determine responsibility. The New York-based rights watchdog called on international supporters of Lebanon, led by France, meeting next week to press the Lebanese authorities to accept an independent probe.

Three-time Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri was renamed to the post Thursday to create a reform-orientated cabinet that can lift the country out of its worst economic crisis in decades.

Hariri, 50, made his comeback to take on the difficult task almost a year after stepping down under pressure from an unprecedented protest movement demanding a complete overhaul of Lebanon's political system.

Saad Hariri, who was renamed Lebanon's premier Thursday, is a businessman who was propelled into politics by his billionaire father's assassination.