In eastern Lebanon's city of Baalbek, the Jawhari family gathered around a gaping crater where their home once stood, tears streaming as they tried to make sense of the destruction.

"It is heart-breaking. A heartache that there is no way we will ever recover from," said Lina Jawhari, her voice breaking as she hugged relatives who came to support the family. "Our world turned upside down in a second."

Army chief Joseph Aoun, who is being touted as a possible candidate for the presidency, is a man with a tough mission following an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that relies heavily on his troops deploying in the south.

Aoun, 60, was set to retire last January after heading the army since 2017, but has had his mandate extended twice -- the last time on Thursday.

On the third day of a ceasefire that ended more than 13 months of war in Lebanon, Israeli troops advanced in southern border villages to zones where they were not present prior to the truce.

Four Israeli tanks and two bulldozers entered neighborhoods of Khiam, as troops also advanced towards Markaba's town square.

A truce between Israel and Hezbollah, brokered by the United States and France, called for an initial two-month ceasefire in which the militants are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border.

For many Lebanese, the pause in fighting brought relief — but also heartache. Displaced families returned home to sift through the bombed-out ruins of their shops and apartments.

France's special envoy on Friday said it was urgent for Lebanon to elect a president, after a parliamentary vote to end over two years without a head of state was announced for January.

Jean-Yves Le Drian's visit to Lebanon follows a fragile ceasefire to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The European Union welcomed Friday the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon and commended the mediation efforts undertaken by France and the United States.

"This is a significant achievement, which the EU and its Member States have been repeatedly calling for throughout this year," the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon said in a statement.

The Israeli army carried out several attacks in southern Lebanon on Friday, on the third day of a ceasefire that ended more than 13 months of war in Lebanon.

Artillery bombardment struck the villages of Markaba, Tallousa and Khiyam while four Israeli tanks moved into the western part of Khiyam and the town square of Markaba.

Thousands of people made the crossing back into Lebanon from Syria on the second and third days of a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, after nearly 14 months of fighting.

At the Jousieh border crossing in the Qusair area of Syria's Homs province, on Lebanon's northeastern border, bumper-to-bumper cars lined up on Thursday waiting to be cleared for crossing. All four lanes were taken up by cars making their way into Lebanon, while those waiting to cross into Syria had to use an offroad.

Hours after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to end Israel's war on Lebanon went into effect, Lebanon woke up to the sound of celebratory gunfire instead of Israeli airstrikes and drones buzzing overhead.

It was a rare moment of respite for Lebanon, as bombs stopped falling after a year of war. Thousands of displaced people joyfully drove back to their towns and villages in southern and eastern Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel's Channel 14 in an interview that he has instructed the army to prepare for a large-scale war in Lebanon should the ceasefire be violated.