Families who fled the southern towns of Lebanon in January are making cautious dashes back to their own homes, as a cease‑fire pact between the United States and Iran brings a short‑lived calm to a region that has been a battlefield for over a month.
Despite official warnings that the zone is still unsafe, residents are re‑entering streets that had been blocked by Israeli armoured vehicles. In one footage, a car pulls into a village and finds a reinforced defence vehicle standing guard, a stark reminder that the very place that once seemed a safe haven now carries the weight of danger.
A man who has been displaced from Jebchit says his family “has returned, but with caution,” noting that the rubble in many homes is almost complete and that “everything is…compensated for and rebuilt.” Yet another resident, Moustafa, travelling in a small bus, conveys that seeing the devastation in familiar rooftops “is extremely hard,” and he questions the sustainability of the cease‑fire, saying “Israel can’t be trusted.”
The broader context involves Israel’s heavy‑handed bombing campaign in the south in response to Hezbollah’s missile exchanges earlier this year, and Iran’s insistence that a cease‑fire must also extend to Lebanon, a demand that shaped the recent U.S.‑Iran deal. The pact remains largely undisclosed, raising questions about how it will impact the local conflict and whether it will bring official withdrawal of Israeli forces from the roughly five percent of territory that has been occupied.
Israel claims its mission is to establish a “security zone” along the border, free of Hezbollah rocket and drone threats. On the other hand, Lebanon’s government has pushed to separate its own conflict from that in Iran, trying to limit Tehran’s influence on the region. Hezbollah, which has been heavily involved and is an active political party, refuses to discuss disarmament, arguing that only diplomatic talks can ensure a lasting solution, though the current cease‑fire appears to stall such negotiations.
With over 3,800 people reported dead and a million others still displaced across Lebanon—most of them Shia Muslims—questions remain about the future stability of the country, how the reconstruction will be funded, and whether the cease‑fire will truly bring peace or merely pause skirmishes.
