Ceasefire Holds as Displaced Lebanese Journey Home
A ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah held on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the U.S. and France. People in both countries began returning to their homes in the border area, shattered by 14 months of intense fighting.
The agreement, a rare diplomatic success in a region often plagued by conflict, ended the deadliest confrontation between Israel and the Iran-backed group in years. However, Israel continues its battle with another adversary, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip.
Cars and vans piled high with mattresses, suitcases, and even furniture streamed through the heavily bombed Lebanese port city of Tyre, heading south. They carried some of the roughly 1.4 million people believed to have been uprooted by the conflict.
In their first statement since the truce was announced, Hezbollah’s operations center made no direct mention of the ceasefire but vowed to continue its resistance. They stated that their fighters “remain fully equipped to deal with the aspirations and assaults of the Israeli enemy” and that their forces will monitor Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon “with their hands on the trigger.”
The group has been weakened by casualties and the reported killing of its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, by Israel.
The ceasefire aims to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border, which the Lebanese Health Ministry says has killed at least 3,768 people in Lebanon since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the ceasefire “the first ray of hope” in months of Middle East conflict. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran welcomed the truce and hoped it would be permanent.
In Lebanon, some cars flew national flags, others honked, and one woman could be seen flashing the victory sign with her fingers as people started to return to the homes they had fled.
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Israel-Hezbollah truce holds, displaced Lebanese begin to journey home
cgtn.com
