Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Thursday criticized both the Lebanese state led by President Joseph Aoun and PM Nawaf Salam, and his former ally Hezbollah.

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension, but the achievement of justice. This is a phrase coined by Martin Luther King Jr. and ignored by many, especially those who believe in imposing peace by force," Bassil said.

The Israeli foreign ministry said Thursday that Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem's "rejection of the ceasefire" and "rocket interceptions over Kiryat Shmona" tell "the story: Hezbollah continues to attack Israel and destabilize the region."

"The Iranian proxy Hezbollah must be disarmed and its terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon must be dismantled according to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701," the ministry added, in an English-language post on X.

U.S. officials followed Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem's defiant remarks on Thursday and "we judge actions not words," U.S. sources told LBCI television.

"This agreement resembles a last chance and wasting it means that everyone will pay a heavy price," the sources said of the overnight ceasefire agreement that was reached between Lebanon and Israel.

The Israeli government announced on Thursday that negotiations with Lebanon in Washington had achieved what it described as an "unprecedented accomplishment," noting that they removed Hezbollah from the equation.

Israel's government added that the negotiations were still ongoing with the aim of reaching a "permanent ceasefire."

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday that the army would begin deploying in "pilot zones" in the country's south, a day after Israel and Lebanon agreed in Washington to implement a ceasefire.

"The next step is practical and tangible: the deployment of the Lebanese army in pilot zones as a first phase," Salam said, according to remarks read out by Information Minister Paul Morcos after a cabinet meeting, adding that "this does not prejudice our right to a full (Israeli) withdrawal, but brings us closer to it."

Hezbollah on Thursday rejected the latest ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and the Lebanese government, demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem, in a written statement read on TV, said the agreement's demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean "surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy's goals."

Hezbollah resumed its rocket fire days after Israel and the United States launched their surprise attack on Iran on Feb. 28. Before then, Israel had regularly carried out strikes in Lebanon against what it said were militant targets, often killing civilians, despite an earlier truce reached in 2024.

In the southern city of Sidon, many residents reacted to the ceasefire announcement with skepticism, saying previous agreements had failed to stop the violence.

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a paramedic, the state-run National News Agency reported late Wednesday after three other strikes targeted paramedics in south Lebanon in the same day.

The strike on a team from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee in Zebdine killed a paramedic and wounded another.

The Israeli army carried out airstrikes in south Lebanon on Thursday, hours after Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a ceasefire.

An Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle on the Zefta road, while other strikes targeted Kfartebnit, Shehour, Bestat, Kfar Remman, Tebnine, Maaroub, Zawtar, Shoukin, Kafra, Zebdine, Baraashit, Srifa, Harees, Qana, Toul, Harouf, Mayfadoun, Dweir, Deir al-Zahrani, Beit Yahoun, Maarakeh, Adshit, Kfarjoz and al-Mansouri.

Lebanon and Israel agreed early Thursday to "the implementation of a ceasefire."

Below is the full text of a joint statement issued by the U.S., Lebanon and Israel after two days of talks in Washington: