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.”

The Israeli army announced restrictions Wednesday on people's movements in south Lebanon after dark, hours after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect.

Residents will be barred from travelling south of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers from the border, between 1500 GMT and 0500 GMT Thursday, military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X. They will also be barred from returning to villages the army has ordered evacuated, he added.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil congratulated the Lebanese for a ceasefire that came into effect on Wednesday morning.

If it holds, the ceasefire would bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September into all-out war.

Pictures of Hezbollah Coordination and Liaison Unit chief Wafiq Safa surfaced Wednesday on social media shortly after the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire went into effect.

World leaders have welcomed a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, which came into force on Wednesday morning.

Here are key reactions from around the world.