2026-04-17 19:59
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2026-04-17 19:59
Thousands of Lebanese are returning on Friday to the south of the country, devastated by the war between Israel and Hezbollah. A ceasefire came into force overnight. According to the government in Beirut, approximately 1.2 of Lebanon's 6 million inhabitants have fled due to the fighting. The Israeli army remains in southern Lebanon and is urging civilians not to return to the area.
Fighting stopped at midnight local time. The truce announced by the US is to last 10 days.
On Friday morning, a line of refugee cars loaded with belongings stretched along the highway leading to southern Lebanon, AFP reported.
There was a huge traffic jam near the Kasmija Bridge, which spans the Litani River, and people waited for hours to cross the river, the agency added.
This is the last crossing between the central part of Lebanon and the south of the country dominated by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah that was not damaged in Israeli airstrikes. The bridge was bombed and damaged on Thursday, but the Lebanese army temporarily repaired the damage.
“We left an hour before the ceasefire came into force to reach the bridge as soon as it opened and return to our village,” a 37-year-old Lebanese woman who fled with her family from a village near Tire in the south of the country told AFP.
Many refugees returning to southern Lebanon told AFP reporters they did not know if their homes were still standing.
The announcement of the truce caused a wave of joy in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. However, the southern suburbs of this city, considered a stronghold of Hezbollah, are so destroyed that residents do not want to return there for now, wrote Reuters.
Israel fought in Lebanon not against that country's army, but against Hezbollah, supported by Tehran, which joined the US and Israel's war against Iran.
US President Donald Trump, announcing the truce, noted that the agreement had been agreed with the leaders of Israel and Lebanon, and expressed hope that the truce would become the basis for lasting peace.
The agreement does not require Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon, which was captured during a month-and-a-half-long campaign. The authorities in Jerusalem announced that they would create a buffer zone there to protect the north of Israel, which has so far been plagued by regular shelling by Hezbollah.
The Shiite group has already said it will honor the truce if Israel halts its attacks and withdraws from Lebanon. Israel declares that the basis for any further agreements must be the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Just a few hours after the ceasefire came into force, the Lebanese army reported a number of violations by Israel, including sporadic bombings of some villages, AFP reported.
The Israeli military has warned Lebanese civilians not to return to the south of the country for now “out of concern for their own safety.”
Since March 2, 2,294 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the Ministry of Health in Beirut reported on Friday. The Israeli army reported that it had killed approximately 1,700 Hezbollah fighters.
13 Israeli soldiers were also killed in fighting in Lebanon, and in Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. (PAP)
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