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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.