Fighting in Lebanon is easing after the US-Iran deal but evacuees warn not to rush home
Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
Fighting in southern Lebanon eased on Monday after the announcement of a US-Iran deal to end the wider conflict, but local authorities warned displaced people not to rush home and Israel said it would not withdraw its troops from the area.
Lebanon experienced the biggest conflict in the US-Iran conflict, as nearly 3,800 people were killed and about 1.2 million people were displaced by Israel’s offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which opened fire on Israel in support of Tehran on March 2.
Pakistan, a key mediator between Tehran and Washington, announced that an agreement was reached early Monday local time that calls for “an immediate and permanent end to military operations on all sides, including Lebanon.”
The announcement brought little calm to southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese and foreign security sources.
Hezbollah attacks on areas targeted by Israeli forces, in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, stopped shortly before midnight, the sources said. The group has not commented on the deal but previously said it supports Iran’s campaign to end the fighting in Lebanon.
Israel also scaled back its attacks, security sources said, although gunfire was reported in southern Lebanese cities and at least one drone was heard circling over Beirut and its southern suburbs.
Israeli soldiers will remain
In southern Lebanon, municipal councils have asked residents to stop returning to their homes. The Israeli air force has bombed some towns there in the past three months, while others near the border are still occupied by Israeli forces.
Mona Mazeh, a woman who was evicted from a settlement in the Beirut district of Hamra, had no immediate plans to return to her village near the southern city of Tyre. “In fact, we doubt it; Israel cannot be trusted,” he said.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz, whose country is not part of the US-Iran agreement, said Israel plans to stay “forever” in the land it holds in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip and will not withdraw, adding that it will retaliate if Iran attacks Israel because of events in Lebanon.
Katz said the security zone in southern Lebanon would be cleared of local residents, as well as “all terrorist infrastructure, including houses in areas connected to them,” referring to Hezbollah.
The US and Iran say they have reached a new deal to end hostilities on all sides – including Lebanon – and see the Strait of Hormuz reopened. The agreement is expected to be signed on Friday, but questions remain about whether Israel will also abide by the terms.
Katz also threatened that if Iran attacks Israel because of its strikes in Lebanon, Israel will hit Iran “with great force.” In the past two and a half years, Israel has controlled 1,000 square kilometers of territory in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
The Israeli army has been destroying villages in southern Lebanon for weeks, saying it is dealing with Hezbollah terrorists who are targeting civilian areas in the predominantly Shia Muslim region. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese Shia fled to other parts of the country.
In Nabatieh, a town destroyed in the south, Mohammed Daqdouq said he returned on Monday morning to check on his house. “We’re going to need a lifetime to rebuild — to rebuild and get Nabatieh back to the way it was,” he said.
In response to questions about where Israel stands on the deal, David Mencer, a spokesman for Netanyahu’s office, told the Associated Press that Israel and the US remain fully united in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. But he added that Israel will not tolerate Hezbollah attacks on its territory and will continue to take action against those who want to harm its citizens.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun issued a carefully worded statement on Monday in response to the US-Iran deal, saying he was very grateful to those who worked for the economic withdrawal in Lebanon and appreciated the agreement’s recognition of the importance of his country’s stability.
He did not specifically mention Iran or Israel. Aoun previously accused Tehran of using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with Washington.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a political ally of Hezbollah and head of the Shi’ite Muslim Amal Movement, said the agreement laid “the foundations of security and stability in the region, including Lebanon.”
In a statement, Berri thanked Washington and Tehran for including a moratorium on Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the agreement, and described the offer as binding.
Iran, whose Revolutionary Guards founded Hezbollah in 1982, had insisted that a ceasefire in Lebanon be included as part of any comprehensive agreement with the United States.
