West Asia War: Uneasy calm in Lebanon as families head home

Beirut: A fragile calm settled over parts of Lebanon on Friday as a 10-day ceasefire brokered by the United States took hold between Israel and Hezbollah, prompting thousands of displaced families to begin the journey home - even as uncertainty, destruction and Israeli warnings against going back to parts of southern Lebanon clouded their return.

By early morning, cars were backed up for kilometers on the route leading south to the damaged Qasmiyeh bridge over the Litani River, a key crossing linking the southern coastal city of Tyre to the north. Vehicles 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.


The latest Israel-Hezbollah war displaced more than a million people. Despite warnings from Lebanese officials that they should not immediately attempt to return to their homes, many began moving toward southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire was declared. The truce appeared to be largely holding overnight.

In southern villages like Jibsheet, a trickle of residents returned to flattened apartment blocks and streets littered with chunks of concrete, twisted aluminum shutters and dangling electrical wires.

'Military Ops against Hezbollah Still Not over'

Israel's defence minister said on Friday that the campaign against the militant group Hezbollah was not yet complete, just hours after the ceasefire came into force,

He also warned that if the fighting resumed, displaced residents returning to the country's war-torn south would have to evacuate again.

"The ground manoeuver into Lebanon and the strikes on Hezbollah have achieved many gains, but they are still not complete," Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a broadcast statement.

There remained areas of the south that had not yet been cleared of Hezbollah militants, which would have to happen one way or another, he added.

"The area between the security zone and the Litani (River) line, which is currently under our control, has not yet been cleared of terrorists and weapons," Katz warned. "This will have to be carried out either through diplomatic means or by continued IDF activity once the ceasefire ends." Agencies