Lebanese army deploys troops and armored vehicles in the south, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah

The army Lebanese forces are deploying troops and armored vehicles to the south of the country on Thursday, in the second day of the ceasefire which put an end to two months of open war between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, and whose delicate application it must ensure.

The Lebanese parliament is due to meet on January 9 to elect a president of the Republic, which the country has been deprived of for more than two years by the differences between Hezbollah and its adversaries, announced the Lebanese news agency, Ani.

No major disruption to the truce has been reported so far, despite the rush, as soon as it came into effect Wednesday at 0200 GMT, of tens of thousands of residents displaced by the hostilities to return home, in the south, the southern suburbs of Beirut and the east of the country, all Hezbollah strongholds pounded for two months by the Israeli air force.

However, two people were injured Thursday in Israeli gunfire “on the square” of the southern village of Markaba, the Lebanese news agency reported. The Israeli army, which warned the population not to approach the positions it still holds, said it had fired in the direction of “suspects (…) arriving with vehicles” in certain areas and “not respecting the conditions of the ceasefire”.

The Lebanese army “continues its deployment south of the Litani (the river about thirty kilometers from the border, editor's note), conducts patrols and sets up checkpoints”, a military source told AFP on Thursday, specifying that the soldiers are not “advancing into the sectors where the Israeli army is still located”.

In the Christian village of Qlaaya, near the border, Lebanese soldiers were greeted as they entered on Wednesday evening by jubilant residents, who threw flowers and rice at them and waved Lebanese flags. “We only want the Lebanese army in Lebanon,” chanted the crowd, according to an AFP correspondent.

The army had indicated on Wednesday that it was beginning to “strengthen its presence” in the south, “in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon”, UNIFIL.

– “Ready to confront” Israel –

The ceasefire agreement aims to end the deadly conflict that began more than 13 months ago between Israel, the Israeli army and the Lebanese Islamist movement, which has displaced 900,000 people in Lebanon and 60,000 in northern Israel.

Sponsored by the United States and France, it provides for the withdrawal within 60 days of the Israeli army from Lebanon, which it entered on September 30, a week after Israel launched a campaign of massive strikes against Hezbollah.

Lebanese army armored vehicles on patrol south of the Litani River, near the southern city of Tyre, Lebanon, after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, November 27, 2024 © AFP – Anwar AMRO

The Lebanese movement must withdraw to the north of the Litani River and dismantle its military infrastructure in the south. The agreement includes American and French technical support for the Lebanese army.

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Its mission is expected to be delicate: Israel reserves “total freedom of military action” in Lebanon, “if Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm”, warned its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hezbollah, for its part, claimed on Wednesday a “victory” over Israel, affirming that its fighters “will remain totally ready to face (…) attacks from the Israeli enemy”.

The Shiite movement will cooperate with the Lebanese state to strengthen the deployment of the army, one of its deputies, Hassan Fadlallah, assured AFP. But its members “are the children of the villages” in the south, from where “no one” can drive them out, he added.

Weakened by Israeli coups, which notably decimated its leadership, the formation, armed and supported by Iran, remains a key player on the Lebanese political scene.

At the border between the two countries, Israeli troops return to Israel after the ceasefire in Lebanon, November 27, 2024 © AFP – Jalaa MAREY

Hezbollah had opened a “support” front for Hamas against Israel at the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack of the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil. This was followed by months of cross-border exchanges of fire, before the escalation in September.

– “Reborn” –

The incessant flow of residents returning home, to find their towns and villages devastated continues Thursday, on roads plagued by giant traffic jams, AFP correspondents noted.

In the southern city of Tyre, where smoke still rises from bombed buildings, fishermen wait in the port for the green light from the army to return to sea. “When the escalation started, we stopped working completely and were threatened by the Israelis,” explains one of them, Madhi Istanbuli.

A resident of southern Lebanon on the rubble of her house in the village of Tayr Debba, after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, November 27, 2024 © AFP – Mahmoud ZAYYAT

“Despite the extent of the destruction and our pain, we are happy to be back,” said Oum Mohamed Bzeih, a 44-year-old widow who returned to her devastated home in the village of Zebqine. “We feel reborn.”

According to Lebanese authorities, at least 3,823 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most since late September of this year. On the Israeli side, 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have died in 13 months, according to the authorities.

Lebanon: Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah © AFP – Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Paz PIZARRO, Jean-Michel CORNU

In Nahariya, an Israeli coastal city within rocket range of the territory Lebanese, Baha Arafat, a 44-year-old man, also expressed his relief on Wednesday. “There is no shelter in the area and these last few days have been tense.”

“There is a feeling of greater security, our children can go back to school,” rejoices Youri, 43, displaced from his kibbutz Yiron, near the border, in Haifa.

But “we do not feel completely reassured”, because “Hezbollah still has forces”, he adds.

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