Israel withdraws as Lebanese search for dead in devastated villages

Residents of south Lebanon returned to devastated villages on Tuesday, searching for the bodies of relatives killed in last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, as Israeli troops withdrew from most of the territory, Reuters has reported.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that the occupation state would complete its withdrawal from the south on Tuesday to meet a deadline set under a US-backed ceasefire, but that it would remain in five hilltop points.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said that Israel was still occupying Lebanese territory and put the onus on the government in Beirut to get all Israeli forces out.

In the frontline village of Kfar Kila, barely a building was left standing. “I reached my neighbourhood and I couldn’t tell where my house had been,” said one resident, Noha Hammoud. “The entire neighbourhood is destroyed.” Rescue workers had pulled several bodies from the rubble, she said, and had even found two people still alive.

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Senior Lebanese politician Ali Hassan Khalil, who hails from the south, said hundreds of residents had gone to inspect more than a half dozen villages that became accessible, adding that the Lebanese army was still working to clear roads. However, Israel’s continued occupation has left “an open wound,” he added.

The conflict began when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel on 8 October, 2023, in what was claimed to be solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Israelis fled from settlements in the north of the occupation state. More than a million Lebanese were displaced by the cross-border exchanges of fire which led to Israel invading Lebanon and bombarding the capital Beirut and other cities.

At the Israeli Kibbutz Misgav Am, next to the border with Lebanon, some residents visited and planted trees on Tuesday.

“Although we had to evacuate, our hearts stayed here,” said one of the kibbutz members, Daniel Malik. “We really want to come back but there is big uncertainty because we don’t know when it will be safe.”

In Yaroun, another frontline village in Lebanon, a woman held a bouquet of spring flowers in one hand and Hezbollah’s yellow flag in another as she surveyed the destruction.

“Our feeling is a mix of joy and sadness because there are still martyrs we have yet to find,” said returning resident Suhaila Daher. “All the destruction can be replaced, thank God, but the martyrs will not return.”

The terms of a US-brokered ceasefire required Israel to withdraw and barred Hezbollah from having any military presence in southern Lebanon, where the group enjoys political backing among Shia Muslims. The deal also requires the US-backed Lebanese army to deploy into the border region.

Israel had been due to withdraw by 26 January, but this was extended to 18 February after it accused Lebanon of failing to enforce the terms. Lebanon at the time accused Israel of delaying its withdrawal.

Saar said Israel was pulling its troops out despite what he called violations by Hezbollah. “The most basic violation is the presence of Hezbollah activists south of the Litani River,” he said. “Once Lebanon implements its side of the deal, there will be no need to hold these points.”

Anadolu Agency has collated details of Israeli violations of the ceasefire based on official Lebanese statistics. “Since the ceasefire agreement took effect in November,” it reported, Israel has violated it 923 times, resulting in 73 deaths and 265 injuries.”

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah, speaking to Reuters in Yaroun, said: “The Israeli enemy is still occupying Lebanese land and this Lebanese land must be liberated and now the primary responsibility falls on the Lebanese state.”

The Lebanese presidency said that Lebanon would consider any remaining Israeli presence on Lebanese land as an occupation. Lebanon has the right to use any means to ensure an Israeli withdrawal, it added.

The UN said that despite delays, “tangible progress” had been made since the ceasefire came into force in late November, noting that Israel had withdrawn from population centres in southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army had deployed “in challenging conditions”.

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