More than 640,000 displaced people have returned to their homes in Lebanon since the ceasefire with Israel took effect, according to new figures released by the International Organization for Migration.
The agency reported that 646,107 displaced people had returned home, while nearly 500,000 people remain displaced, based on data collected with Lebanese authorities since June 22.
The returns come as hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have declined following a U.S.-Iran understanding aimed at ending the regional conflict.
The conflict in Lebanon began on March 2, after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel, saying the attack was in response to the killing of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
Israel responded with extensive airstrikes, a ground offensive, and repeated evacuation orders during more than three months of fighting, leaving about 4,300 people dead and displacing more than one million people, particularly from southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to Lebanese authorities.
A ceasefire in Lebanon took effect on June 21 following an agreement reached between Tehran and Washington to end the regional war.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of residents have returned to southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Lebanese authorities have also begun dismantling informal displacement camps in and around Beirut as the number of official shelters continues to decline.
However, the return to dozens of towns and villages near the Israeli border remains on hold because of extensive destruction and Israel’s announcement that it will maintain forces inside a 10-kilometer security zone along the border while continuing occasional military strikes despite the ceasefire.
Last week, Lebanon and Israel reached a U.S.-brokered framework agreement intended to pave the way toward ending the conflict after five rounds of negotiations between the two countries, which do not maintain diplomatic relations.
The agreement provides for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from areas occupied in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese Army beginning with two pilot areas.
However, the deal does not specify a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal, linking it instead to Hezbollah’s disarmament—a task that many analysts believe will be difficult for the Lebanese state to accomplish.
AFP
