Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Friday declared a "great victory" against Israel in his first speech since a ceasefire went into effect in Lebanon.

"I have decided to declare... officially and clearly that we are facing a great victory that surpasses that of July 2006," Qassem said, adding: "We won because we prevented the enemy from destroying Hezbollah... (and) from annihilating or weakening the resistance."

Some in Israel’s security establishment are estimating the chances of a resumption of the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon at 50%, according to Israel’s Ynet news portal.

Speaker Nabih Berri’s political aide MP Ali Hassan Khalil has said that Israel has failed to achieve victory in its war on Lebanon, although the country “lost a lot of leaders, icons, martyrs and infrastructure.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for an “immediate” halt to “all actions that violate” the ceasefire that has been in effect in Lebanon since Wednesday, the Elysee Palace said on Friday.

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."