Thousands join rush to return home on first day of Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon

Israeli military warns that it will deal ‘firmly’ with anyone who breaks a night-time curfew it has imposed

Lebanese citizens begin to return to their homes on Wednesday following the ceasefire agreement (Getty)

Thousands of people forced to leave their homes in war-torn southern Lebanon have started to return in the wake of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Cars and vans piled high with mattresses, suitcases and furniture streamed through the heavily bombed southern port city of Tyre, heading south towards the areas hundreds of thousands of people had been forced to flee from during nearly 14 months of clashes. Traffic jams could be seen around Beirut and along the roads heading out of the city, as people began their journeys as soon as the ceasefire came into effect at 4am local time.

Hussein, 45, told The Independent that he and his wife Hiam, 41, had packed all their belongings at the shelter they had been staying in in the Hamra neighbourhood of Beirut, and started the normally two-hour-long journey to an area south of Tyre.

“At 6 o’clock I was turning the car [around] and went straight to Tyre Harfa. I thought I would be the first one there, but I was surprised that the traffic was stifling on the southern road, just like it was when we left for Beirut,” he said.

Hussein said he had been working as a painter in and around Tyre, but that the work had dried up about seven months ago, and he had fled with his mother, three children and wife as the fighting in the city intensified. “Our house is badly damaged, but I will return even if I have to set up a tent in front of the house,” he said. “The important thing is that the war is over. We are not afraid, we are the owners of the land, but our material losses are great, and we have many victims and wounded among our extended family, neighbours and villagers.”

The United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said a ceasefire was “the first ray of hope” in the regional conflict after months of escalation. “It is essential that those who signed the ceasefire commitment respect it in full,” he said. The truce afforded a reprieve to the 1.2 million Lebanese citizens displaced by the fighting, and the tens of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes along the border.

Under the Lebanon ceasefire terms, Israel will withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon during the 60-day truce, while Hezbollah will move its heavy weaponry north of the Litani River, about 16 miles (25km) north of the border with Israel. The Israeli military cautioned residents of southern Lebanon against moving south of the Litani River from 5pm local time to 7am on Thursday, noting that Israeli forces were still present in the area and that they would deal “firmly” with those who continued to travel.

Displaced families carry mattresses as they prepare to return to their villages near Sidon (AP)

The military also said that Israeli forces had fired at several vehicles carrying what it claimed were “suspects”, to force the vehicles to turn round and prevent them from entering a no-go zone in Lebanese territory. Such isolated incidents were not expected to put the ceasefire at risk, but the chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Herzi Halevi, said Israel’s enforcement of the ceasefire would be very determined.

“Hezbollah operatives who approach our troops, the border area, and the villages within the area we have marked will be struck,” he said. “We are preparing, getting ready for the possibility that this [ceasefire] approach won’t succeed.”

The Lebanese health ministry says that nearly 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since fighting erupted in the wake of Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza against Hamas – an ally of Hezbollah, which is also backed by Iran. The vast majority of deaths have occurred as a result of the intensified bombing and ground campaign by Israel that began in September. At least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Israel, in the Golan Heights, and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli authorities.

Majida Mubarak, 60, cried in front of the rubble of her home in the Sfeir area of Beirut’s southern suburbs. The building was destroyed during heavy airstrikes by Israel on southern Beirut and other cities just before the ceasefire came into effect. The Israeli military said 330 Hezbollah targets had been struck before the ceasefire came into force. “I don’t feel happy. I don’t have a home to go back to. People are happy because they will be returning to the homes they miss, but we don’t have a home now,” she said. Her husband, Shafiq, 70, a clothing salesman, said: “I spent my whole life building a house in Beirut and a house in my village, Aita al-Shaab [close to the Israeli border]. I built a palace from my tears and sweat.

“[But] thank God we are fine and our children and our large family are fine. This is the most important thing,” the pair added.

A woman hugs her crying daughter as displaced residents return to Dahiyeh in southern Beirut (AP)

Ghenwa, 55, owns a clothing store in her village in Shamshtar in Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon. The conflict forced her to leave her home for the first time, and she was clear about the toll it had taken, even if many were celebrating being able to go home. “The country is almost destroyed, and dozens of our relatives were killed or wounded in the war. We are sad about the loss of so many lives, all of them innocent children, women and young people.”

In Israel, the mood was generally subdued, with displaced Israelis concerned that the deal did not go far enough to rein in Hezbollah and that it did not address the conflict in Gaza or what will happen to the hostages still being held there.

“I think it is still not safe to return to our homes, because Hezbollah is still close to us,” said Eliyahu Maman, an Israeli displaced from the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, which is not far from the border with Lebanon and was hit hard by the months of fighting.

The war in Gaza – along with the cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah – was triggered on 7 October last year, when Hamas launched an attack inside Israel. The militant group killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostages into Gaza.

In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until all of the hostages are freed. Some 100 hostages remain, although about a third of those are believed to be dead. More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in the largely devastated Gaza Strip, according to local health officials, while around 90 per cent of the population of around 2.3 million have been forced from their homes.

The deal does not address the war in Gaza, where Israeli strikes overnight on two schools being used as shelters in Gaza City killed 11 people, including four children, according to hospital officials.

Joe Biden has said the US will make another attempt, along with Middle Eastern countries, to orchestrate a ceasefire in Gaza, involving the release of hostages and the removal of Hamas from government. “Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power,” Mr Biden said on X (formerly Twitter).

Many residents of Gaza have said they feel abandoned, with the focus so heavily on Lebanon. “We hope that all Arab and Western countries, and all people with merciful hearts and consciences ... implement a truce here, because we are tired,” displaced Palestinian Malak Abu Laila told reporters.

Back in Lebanon, many are unsure what the future holds. Fatima, 33, said she and her family had been “displaced about four times, once from the south to Tyre, then to the [Beirut] suburbs, then to a school in Sanayeh in Beirut”. Fatima’s husband made clear that their ordeal wasn’t over. “Who will rebuild all these villages and all these buildings? Who will restore our memories? Who will buy us furniture?” he asked.