U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein has dubbed a ceasefire deal that would allow Israeli troops to remain in Lebanon as an occupying force "a fantasy."

Hochstein was criticized in Israel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Benett wanted the deal to allow Israeli troops to remain in Lebanon in order to create a buffer zone.

France's special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian was in Lebanon Thursday, a day after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect.

Before meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the former foreign minister attended part of a parliament session that extended the tenures of Army chief Joseph Aoun and other military chiefs for one year.

Lebanon's military deployed troops and tanks across the country's south on Thursday as a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war largely held for a second day.

The truce ended a war that began a day after Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, killing thousands in Lebanon and sparking mass displacements in both Lebanon and Israel.

An Israeli drone struck Thursday a car in the southern border town of Markaba, wounding at least two people, a day after a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel came into effect.

The agreement, brokered by the United States and France, includes an initial two-month cease-fire in which Hezbollah militants are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers.

Hezbollah said Wednesday it had achieved "victory" over Israel and that its fighters were at the ready, after a truce between the two sides took effect.

"Victory from God almighty was the ally of the righteous cause," a statement from the Iran-backed group said, adding that its fighters "will remain in total readiness to deal with the Israeli enemy’s ambitions and its attacks".

Parliament will meet on January 9 to elect a new president, seeking to end more than two years without a head of state, official media reported Thursday, a day after an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire began.

The official National News Agency also reported that parliament on Thursday extended the mandate of army chief Joseph Aoun, himself floated as a potential presidential contender.

Israeli forces opened fire to push back a number of vehicles that were entering a restricted area, in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops were still present following their ground invasion in early October.

Three journalists, including a freelance photographer working for The Associated Press, said they were shot and wounded by Israeli troops while covering the return of displaced people to the town of Khiam, around 6 kilometers from the border, which had seen heavy fighting in recent days.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah on Wednesday, saying it had begun adjusting operations to the "new situation".

"We will continue performing our mandated tasks, and we have already begun adjusting our operations to the new situation," UNIFIL said in a statement, adding that peacekeepers "stand ready to support Lebanon and Israel in this new phase".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the Israeli army “not to allow the population to enter the area of the villages near the border in southern Lebanon, in accordance with the first phase of implementing the ceasefire outline,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Beside the graves of Hezbollah fighters in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek region, families with tears in their eyes paid respects to the dead and celebratory gunshots could be heard in the background Wednesday, the first day of a ceasefire between the militant group and Israel.

“The resistance (Hezbollah) will stay to defend Lebanon,” Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Mokdad told reporters while visiting the graves. “We tell the enemy that the martyrs thwarted their plans for the Middle East.”