Beirut- As a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect, much of Lebanon was quiet for the first time following 14 months of a conflict that has killed thousands of people.
The displaced residents of southern Lebanon started returning to their homes amid celebrations hours after the ceasefire started at 4am (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
While there were concerns about whether the truce would hold and lead to the permanent end of fighting between the Israeli military and the Hezbollah, there was also relief across the tiny Mediterranean nation.
Thousands of people made their way to southern Lebanon, defying a warning from the Israeli military to stay away from previously evacuated areas.
Cars jammed the highway linking the capital, Beirut, to the south, with people returning with their belongings tied on top of their cars. Traffic was gridlocked at the northern entrance of the port city of Sidon.
Displaced people also started returning to the coastal city of Tyre on motorcycles and in cars.
The vast scale of the Israeli military’s strategy of forced displacement and intense bombardment that laid waste to towns and cities means that many people may not have much to return to.
As dawn broke in Beirut, plumes of smoke were visible from areas hit by Israeli strikes before the ceasefire took effect.
On Tuesday, residents in the capital and its southern suburbs endured the most intense day of strikes since the war began.
At least 42 people were killed by Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to local authorities. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel, triggering air raid sirens in the country’s north.
At least 3,823 people have been killed and 15,859 wounded in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since the war on Gaza began last October.
Meanwhile reacting to the Lebanese deal Hamas said the ceasefire Israel eventually clinched with Hezbollah has shattered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “illusion” of reshaping West Asia by force.
“The enemy’s acceptance of the agreement with Lebanon without fulfilling the conditions it set is an important milestone in shattering Netanyahu’s illusions of changing the map of the Middle East by force,” Hamas said in a statement published on its Telegram channel on Wednesday.
It said Netanyahu’s “illusions of defeating the Resistance forces or disarming them” were also sent to oblivion.
“We commend the pivotal role played by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, in support of the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian resistance, and the great sacrifices made by Hezbollah and its leadership, led by the late Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.”
“We appreciate the steadfastness of the brotherly Lebanese people and their constant solidarity with the Palestinian people in confronting the Zionist occupation and its brutal aggression, asking God Almighty to protect Lebanon and its people from all harm and evil,” Hamas said.
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