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.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil congratulated the Lebanese for a ceasefire that came into effect on Wednesday morning.

If it holds, the ceasefire would bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September into all-out war.

Pictures of Hezbollah Coordination and Liaison Unit chief Wafiq Safa surfaced Wednesday on social media shortly after the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire went into effect.

Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Tuesday he hoped a ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah would be agreed later on Tuesday.

Residents of northern Israel – many of whom have been displaced by the conflict with Hezbollah, along with residents of southern Lebanon across the border – have expressed concern about the looming ceasefire deal.

The U.S. has informed Lebanese officials that a declaration of the war's end will be made in the coming hours, Al-Arabiya quoted sources as saying on Monday evening.

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the terms of the ceasefire agreement and the Israeli Security Cabinet is expected to approve the deal on Tuesday, a senior U.S. official told U.S. news portal Axios on Monday.