The roads leading from Beirut to the towns in southern Lebanon have been jammed shortly after the start of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which came into force this Wednesday at four in the morning. Residents of the country’s south who were forced to leave their homes by Israeli bombing are returning to destroyed towns despite warnings from both the Lebanese and Israeli armies.
“With the entry into force of the ceasefire, the army is taking the necessary measures to complete its deployment in the south,” the Lebanese armed forces said in a statement. “The army command asks citizens to wait before returning to the frontline towns and cities that Israeli enemy forces have penetrated, pending their withdrawal,” he adds.
Shortly before, the Arabic spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Avichay Adraee, issued a warning to the civilian population: “For your safety and that of your family members, please refrain from traveling to the area. We will inform you when it is safe to return home.” “The IDF remains deployed in its positions in southern Lebanon. They are prohibited from going to the villages that the IDF has requested to evacuate or towards the IDF forces in the area.”
However, messages between Lebanese authorities are contradictory. The president of Parliament, Nabih Berri, of the Shiite Amal party and one of the main mediators and diplomatic communication between Hezbollah and the rest of the parties, has celebrated the agreement and told citizens that they can “return to their lands” .
A quarter of the population in Lebanon lives in areas under evacuation orders from the Israeli army. The country’s Government estimates that there are 1.2 million displaced.
Despite the entry into force of the ceasefire, some military incidents have occurred. Adraee has reported that the Israeli Army has fired at several vehicles “transporting suspects within a restricted area.” “The Air Force is ready to operate throughout Lebanon and the air defense system is on high alert. So far, there have been no changes to the instructions of the Home Front Command.” Lebanese media have also reported other incidents in several southern towns.
The Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, has ordered the military “to act forcefully and without concessions” in the face of “the entry of Hezbollah members into the town of Kfar Kila.” Katz says in a statement that Hezbollah members must be prevented from reaching areas of southern Lebanon where the IDF continues to ban movement, “and if they endanger IDF troops, they must be beaten.”
In a statement, the Israeli army stated that in the hours before the ceasefire came into effect it had carried out “attacks based on intelligence information against dozens of command centers, shuttles, weapons warehouses and infrastructure sites.” Hezbollah terrorist” in Beirut, Tire and Nabatieh. He has also claimed that he has attacked “smuggling routes between Syria and Lebanon.”
“The remains of war, and what the enemy may have left behind of explosives, weapons, cluster bombs, booby traps or foreign objects thrown between neighborhoods and houses, pose a danger to citizens and children,” he warned. Lebanon’s real estate authority to citizens returning home.
It would have been more appropriate for the military and the relevant security authorities to conduct a safety study, and fully inspect the damaged areas, so that adults and children would not be victims, and no casualties would occur.
Under the agreement, the IDF has 60 days to withdraw. During that time, the Lebanese army will gradually assume responsibility for southern Lebanon and a US-led committee will be created to adjudicate complaints regarding possible ceasefire violations, according to leaked Israeli media.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a member of Hamas, told Reuters that he “appreciates” the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. “We hope that this agreement paves the way to reaching an agreement that ends the genocidal war against our people in Gaza,” he said. However, after announcing the ceasefire, Netanyahu assured that the agreement in Lebanon has the objective of “leaving Hamas alone” in Gaza and allowing the army to rearm.
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