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.

Lebanon's parliament Thursday renewed the term of army chief Joseph Aoun, who is seen as a potential presidential candidate in next year's vote.

The parliament has seldom met since war began 14 months ago, and has not convened to try to elect a president since June 2023, leaving the country in a political gridlock.

For more than 60 days, Lebanese have watched stunned as Israeli strikes smashed into buildings, raising giant explosions and palls of smoke in the heart of the capital and other cities.

Now, after a ceasefire was reached this week, Lebanese are returning to their homes and viewing the damage.

Lebanon's health ministry said on Thursday that 3,961 people had been killed and 16,520 wounded in more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war.

"The total number of dead and wounded since the start of the aggression until Tuesday reached 3,961 dead and 16,520 wounded," a ministry statement said, adding that the increased numbers were also due to "dead being removed from under the rubble".

The Swiss government, which previously drafted a law explicitly banning Hamas activities and support for the Palestinian militants, decided this week against doing the same for the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Parliamentary security policy committees had called for a ban on Hezbollah, but in its response published Thursday, the federal government said the conditions had not been met.