Thousands of people displaced by the war between Israel and Hezbollah began the journey home in Lebanon as a ceasefire took hold yesterday, with many celebrating an end to the deadly fighting.
The truce brought to a halt a war that has killed thousands in Lebanon and resulted in mass displacement on both sides of the border.
The war escalated after nearly a year of cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, whose attack on Israel in October last year sparked the devastating war in Gaza.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Israel shifted its focus from Gaza to Lebanon in September to secure its northern border from attacks by Hezbollah and dealt the movement a relentless string of staggering blows.
The Iran-backed group, which has yet to formally comment on the ceasefire, emerges from the war massively weakened, but not crushed, and still mourning the killing in an Israeli airstrike of leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Roads from the Lebanese capital to the main southern city of Sidon were congested as thousands of people headed back to their homes.
Journalists saw vehicles packed with people carrying mattresses, suitcases and blankets heading south, with some honking and singing in celebration as Hezbollah supporters portrayed the truce as a victory.
“What we feel is indescribable,” one Lebanese driver on the road to the south said. “The people have won.”
In Lebanon, more than 900,000 people fled their homes in recent weeks, according to the UN, as Israel pounded areas across the country with a focus on areas where Hezbollah holds sway.
Lebanon said that at least 3,823 people have been killed in the country since exchanges of fire began in October last year, most of them in the past few weeks.
On the Israeli side, the hostilities with Hezbollah have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.
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