Tens of thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war between Israel and Hezbollah headed back to their devastated towns and villages Wednesday as a ceasefire took hold.
Under the terms of the deal that brought the war to a halt, the Lebanese military started reinforcing its presence in the country’s south, where Hezbollah has long held sway.
The war escalated after nearly a year of cross-border fire launched by the militant group in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, whose attack on Israel in October last year sparked the war in Gaza.
It killed thousands of people in Lebanon and triggered mass displacements on both sides of the border.
Israel shifted its focus from Gaza to Lebanon in September to secure its northern border from Hezbollah attacks, dealing the movement a series of heavy blows.
The Iran-backed group has emerged from the war significantly weakened, including the killing in an Israeli air raid of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.
But that did not stop it from proclaiming “victory” over Israel in a statement released Wednesday.
“Victory from God almighty was the ally of the righteous cause,” the Hezbollah statement said.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told AFP that his group was cooperating on the Lebanese army’s deployment in south Lebanon.
There is “full cooperation” with the Lebanese state in strengthening the army’s deployment, he said, adding that the group had “no visible weapons or bases” but “nobody can make residents leave their villages”.
The road from the Lebanese capital to the south was jammed from before dawn with thousands of people heading home.
AFP journalists saw cars and minibuses packed with people carrying mattresses, suitcases and blankets, with some honking their horns and singing in celebration.
“What we feel is indescribable,” said one Lebanese driver on the road to the south. “The people have won!”
Others, however, voiced quiet desolation.
Returning to his home in the southern town of Nabatieh, Ali Mazraani said he was shocked by the extent of the devastation from the raids.
“Is this really Nabatieh?” he asked. “All our memories of Nabatieh have disappeared, and we can’t recognize our own town.”
Under the ceasefire deal, Israeli forces will hold their positions but “a 60-day period will commence in which the Lebanese military and security forces will begin their deployment towards the south”, a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
Then Israel will begin a phased withdrawal without a vacuum forming that Hezbollah or others could rush into, the official said.
On Wednesday, an AFP journalist saw Lebanese troops and vehicles deploying in two areas of south Lebanon.
“The army has begun reinforcing its presence in the South Litani sector and extending the state’s authority in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),” the military said in a statement, referring to areas south of the Litani River within 30 kilometers (20 miles) of the Israeli border.
