Some south Lebanon residents trickle back as Israel-Hezbollah fighting pauses
Some south Lebanon residents cautiously headed back to their hometowns on Sunday after fighting paused between Israel and Hezbollah the previous evening, even as Lebanon's army warned locals to delay returns.
In the southern city of Nabatieh, AFP correspondents saw just a few residents trickling back to inspect homes and businesses.
Mohammad Salloum said he had come back briefly to check on his shop but would return to the city of Sidon further north where he has taken refuge.
"Nabatieh is disaster-stricken," he told AFP while inspecting the damage.
But "God willing, the city will return to life within two or three months", he added.
Lebanon's army on Sunday emphasized "the need for residents to delay their return to southern border villages and towns" and to comply with army instructions "to preserve their safety from the danger of Israeli violations and attacks".
In the southern Tyre region, an AFP correspondent reported a cautious return of some residents, but said many were waiting for the outcome of further Middle East war talks on Sunday and the green light from local authorities.
Hezbollah's backer Iran, which is holding talks in Switzerland with the United States on Sunday, had warned it would not enter into negotiations on a broader agreement with Washington unless the war in Lebanon came to an end.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was announced on Friday, but Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes on the country's south and east on Saturday killed at least 30 people before fighting paused in the evening.
Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday said Israeli forces had standing orders to act against any threat inside Lebanon, insisting troops would remain in a so-called security zone inside Lebanese territory.
Israeli military operations have recently been focused on the Nabatieh region, and Lebanon's central bank on Saturday said an Israeli strike targeted its branch in the city.
Mayor Abbas Badreddine told AFP that "the scope of destruction on the city of Nabatieh in the past 48 hours amounts to about half of what happened" during the rest of the war.
Lebanon says Israeli attacks have killed more than 4,000 people since Hezbollah drew the country into the Middle East conflict on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel in support of Tehran.
Source: Agence France Presse
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