Fragile Ceasefire in Lebanon Allows Displaced Families to Return Amid Widespread Destruction
A ten-day ceasefire brokered by the United States between Israel and Hezbollah took hold in Lebanon on Friday, bringing a fragile calm to the region and prompting thousands of displaced families to begin returning to their homes. However, their journey back is clouded by uncertainty, extensive destruction, and Israeli warnings against returning to parts of southern Lebanon.
Chaotic Scenes on the Roads Home
By early morning, vehicles were backed up for kilometers on the route leading south to the damaged Qasmiyeh bridge over the Litani River, a key crossing linking the coastal city of Tyre to the north. Cars piled high with mattresses, suitcases, and salvaged belongings crept forward through a single reopened lane, hastily repaired after an Israeli airstrike just a day earlier. Drivers heading back to their villages along coastal highways cheered each other, flashed victory signs, and exchanged blessings, reflecting a mix of relief and apprehension.
Returning to Ruined Villages
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war displaced more than a million people. Despite warnings from Lebanese officials not to immediately attempt to return, many began moving toward southern Lebanon hours after the ceasefire was declared. The truce appeared to be largely holding overnight, but in villages like Jibsheet, residents returned to flattened apartment blocks and streets littered with chunks of concrete, twisted aluminum shutters, and dangling electrical wires.
"I feel free being back," said Zainab Fahas, 23. "But look they destroyed everything — the square, the houses, the shops, everything." Many did not believe their ordeal was truly over. Ali Wahdan, 27, a medic walking on crutches over the rubble of the emergency services’ headquarters in Jibsheet, expressed skepticism. "Israel doesn’t want peace," he said, having been badly wounded in an Israeli airstrike that hit the building without warning during the war's first week. "I wish it were different, but this war will continue."
Devastation in Beirut's Suburbs
In the neighborhood of Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburb, entire buildings had been reduced to rubble after weeks of intense Israeli strikes. Ahmad Lahham, 48, waved the yellow Hezbollah flag while standing on a mountain of rubble that used to be his apartment building, which also housed a branch of Hezbollah’s financial arm, Al-Qard Al-Hassan. "We are at the service of the fighters," said Lahham, pledging his loyalty to the group. He praised Iran, claiming its pressure in talks with the U.S. led to the truce, and condemned Lebanon’s direct talks with Israel. "Only the Iranians stood with us, no one else," he said, calling Lebanon’s leaders "the leadership of shame."
A local government official in Haret Hreik reported that Israel struck the neighborhood 62 times over the last six weeks. Sadek Slim, the neighborhood’s deputy mayor, told a press briefing, "We’ve been able to clear up the rubble of the partially damaged buildings, but for those destroyed, we will need special equipment." The area was gridlocked with traffic, as people returned to check on their homes and Hezbollah supporters zoomed on scooters, waving the group’s flag.
Hospital Struggles and Personal Tragedies
Meanwhile, at Al-Najda al Shaabiya Hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, officials stated that Thursday was one of the heaviest days of Israeli strikes since the war began. Hospital Director Mona Abou Zeid said the wounded continued arriving from nearby Israeli strikes until around an hour after the ceasefire technically took effect at midnight.
Among those wounded in the bombardment on Nabatiyeh was 33-year-old Mahmoud Sahmarani, who stepped outside his home to buy charcoal for his shisha water pipe when an Israeli strike hit his five-story building, killing his father and cousin as they were peeling potatoes for lunch. All that remains of his apartment is rubble, leaving him and his family homeless. "Israel should have withdrawn from Lebanon," he said from his hospital bed, his left eye swollen shut and his head swaddled in bandages. "If we don’t get them out, they will continue to kill us."
The ceasefire has provided a temporary respite, but the deep scars of war and the looming threat of renewed conflict cast a long shadow over Lebanon's recovery efforts.
