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.

The Israeli military announced a new nighttime curfew in parts of south Lebanon Thursday, a day after a ceasefire with Hezbollahbegan.

Two airstrikes targeted an area in the Sidon district on Thursday afternoon, Lebanese TV networks said.

The Israeli army said a warplane carried out an airstrike after "terrorist activity was detected at a Hezbollah facility containing medium-range rockets in south Lebanon."

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.