Israel's cabinet on Sunday approved the appointment of Gadi Eizenkot as the new chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

Eizenkot now serves as deputy chief of staff. He will replace Benny Gantz on Feb. 15. Last week, a government committee that vets senior appointments in the civil service confirmed the nomination.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Eizenkot as "the right man at the right time and place" to lead the military in the face of "great challenges" surrounding Israel.

The nomination came at a time of heightened tensions along the country's frontiers with Syria and Lebanon.

A week ago, airstrikes hit several targets in Syria's capital Damascus. Afterwards, Arab media attributed this attacks to Israel.

Israel neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the attacks, which reportedly targeted advanced missile systems and Iranian-supplied drones used by both the Syrian military and Hezbollah.

Eizekot, 54, began his military career in Golani, one of the regular army's four infantry brigades. Throughout the 1990s, he served as the Northern Command's chief operations officer.

In 1999, he was appointed as the military secretary of then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and was later promoted to key command posts.