FRAGILE TRUCE

Displaced Lebanese Return to Their Homes Amid Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire

Tens of thousands of people streamed back into Lebanon just hours after the agreement went into effect.

In the hours after the Israeli government and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire agreement—brokered by the United States and France—displaced people are returning to their homes in Southern Lebanon. As the BBC reports, however, many of those homes have been destroyed or substantially damaged in 14 months of conflict: Days before reaching the agreement, for example, Israel bombed a densely populated, residential part of Beirut, killing at least 20 people, injuring 66 more, and demolishing an apartment block in the process. Strikes on both sides continued up until the ceasefire went into effect. Despite Israel’s warning that it is too soon for residents to return, Al Jazeera reports that “tens of thousands” of people streamed back into the country on Wednesday, with the agreement only a few hours old. Under the terms of the ceasefire, both sides will withdraw weapons and troops from the area around their shared border over 60 days. The U.S. and France will monitor progress. President Joe Biden said the governments intend the truce to be “permanent cessation of hostilities.”