Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati communicated with U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein on Thursday to “discuss the developments and emphasize Lebanon’s stance,” in the wake of Israel’s numerous violations of the ceasefire agreement, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

Some in Israel’s security establishment are estimating the chances of a resumption of the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon at 50%, according to Israel’s Ynet news portal.

Speaker Nabih Berri’s political aide MP Ali Hassan Khalil has said that Israel has failed to achieve victory in its war on Lebanon, although the country “lost a lot of leaders, icons, martyrs and infrastructure.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for an “immediate” halt to “all actions that violate” the ceasefire that has been in effect in Lebanon since Wednesday, the Elysee Palace said on Friday.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday accused Hezbolah of committing “a major crime against the Lebanese in general and the residents of the Bekaa, the south and Beirut’s southern suburbs in particular.”

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.