‘We want to be 100% sure’: war-weary Lebanese greet truce with caution | Lebanon

HOurs is that after the US-Iran ceasefire was declared, Southern Lebanese people started to return to their villages. A man filmed entering Harees’ entrance; His arrival was interrupted when the car in front of him suddenly left the road. An Israeli armored vehicle was parked in the middle of the road less than 100 meters away; He struggled to turn around.

“It was full of explosives. I think they still want to blow things up,” said Abdullah al-Ali, the municipal official in Harees. Ali added that the entrance to the town was closed after two more explosive-laden vehicles left by the Israelis were found in the area.

The Lebanese army and civil defense called on people not to return to their villages, warning that the war in Lebanon, which has killed approximately 3,800 people so far, is not over yet. Israeli bombardment, which encountered people trying to return to their homes south of the city of Nabatieh, still occupied by Israeli soldiers, concluded their point.

This was the third ceasefire declared in Lebanon in less than two months; the fourth in two years. The war-weary Lebanese this time greeted the apparent ceasefire with a question, not by raising their fingers in a V-shape as a victory sign, as before. Does it take long?

“How many times has this happened before? I have mixed emotions, joy, excitement. But there is a fear in the back of my head that will not go away,” said Ghia Hajo, 25, who was displaced during the war from the town of Abbasieh, just outside the southern Lebanon city of Tire.

Hajo watched on his phone videos from friends and social media of the long-awaited return to their village in southern Lebanon. He was eager to see his own house, which luckily was still standing. But he didn’t want to return to be displaced again, or worse, to face bombs.

Hajo, who is considering returning after making sure that the situation in Abbasieh is safe, said, “We want to go and not have to leave our bags open. Because our clothes are always in our bags, ready to be evacuated at any time. We want to be 100% sure.”

Lebanese officials welcomed the ceasefire, which followed the US-Iran ceasefire they were informed about from the news. It remains unclear how it will be implemented in Lebanon.

In the hours after the ceasefire was declared, Hezbollah’s attacks stopped completely; Israeli attacks have mostly stopped except for shelling and two drone strikes on residents who approached villages close to their troops.

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said Israeli troops would not withdraw from the “security zone” in southern Lebanon, which has been declared by its military to cover at least 600 km2 (231 square miles) of land along the border and has been creeping further north in recent weeks to include the outskirts of Nabatieh.

Israel also stated that it reserved the right to respond to any attack by Hezbollah, while other officials maintained that it maintained freedom of movement in Lebanon.

During previous ceasefires in Lebanon, Israel continued to launch air strikes as it wished in the south of the country. Hezbollah said on Monday that it would not allow this scenario to happen again. His warnings were backed by Tehran, which has shown that it will not hesitate to attack Israel if it feels that red lines in Lebanon have been crossed.

The fundamental problems that dragged Israel and Hezbollah into war remained unresolved. The current round of conflict began when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel on March 2 in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel invaded by stating that its aim was first to destroy Hezbollah and then to disarm it. He failed at both.

As the day progressed, the stream of cars heading south on Lebanon’s highways turned into a flood. Neighborhood residents wanted to return to check their homes, even if just for a day.

For some, the return act was enough; The call to prayer echoing from a minaret filled the town of Sultaniye, where only explosions had been heard for weeks.

For others, the return confirmed their worst fears. A man found his family’s house in the town of Seddiqine destroyed by a bomb. “My house is gone,” was all he managed to choke out. happened. He did not know why or when it was destroyed; His family’s long relocation had left him without an explanation.

The war, which lasted just over 100 days, resulted in the destruction of thousands of homes and shops, the occupation and razing of dozens of villages, the displacement of more than a million people and the deaths of thousands. Since it was not clear whether the war was really over or not, the question of both material and spiritual reconstruction was not yet on the table.

For residents living in villages whose homes were still occupied, many destroyed by the Israelis, the war would not end until their lands were liberated.

“We miss our villages, but our beloved villages have turned into a sad sight, bulldozed, systematically destroyed,” said Ahmad Abu Taan, a 56-year-old construction material store owner from Taybeh, a village destroyed by the Israelis. “But I hope we will return under an agreement and a ceasefire. And when we return, I will tell you how I feel,” he said, his speech interrupted by the sound of an Israeli drone overhead.