From Masses head back to southern Lebanon as Beirut joins plea for civilians to delay return
Lebanon’s army joins Israel in warning residents of the country’s south to delay returning home until the Israel Defense Forces withdraws, expected to take place over the coming weeks.
The Lebanese army says it is preparing to send troops to the south of the country as Israeli soldiers retreat back over the border, asking residents to avoid entering villages where Israelis may still be present.
“With the ceasefire coming into effect, the army is taking the necessary measures to complete its deployment in the south,” the army says in a statement. “The army command calls on citizens to wait before returning to frontline villages and towns that Israeli enemy forces have penetrated, awaiting their withdrawal.”
Earlier, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee warned Lebanese civilians to not yet return to villages in the south, “for your protection and the safety of your families.”
Despite the plea, displaced residents of southern Lebanon have been streaming back to the area all morning.
In the coastal city of Tyre, cars and motorcycles carry jubilant Lebanese who have been forced from the city by the fighting for months.
Sporadic celebratory gunfire can be heard at a main roundabout in the city, as people returning honk the horns of cars — some piled with mattresses — and residents cheer.
A couple of men at the roundabout shout slogans praising slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.
Hussein Sweidan says he sees the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah. “This is a moment of victory, pride and honor for us, the Shia sect, and for all of Lebanon,” he says.
Ahmad Husseini, in his car with family members, describes returning as an “indescribable feeling” and praises Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who led Lebanon’s negotiations with Washington.
“He made us and everyone proud,” he says.
