Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 17, 2026
5 min readLast updated: April 17, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThousands of Lebanese are cautiously returning to destroyed homes as a fragile 10‑day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah holds. Families face devastated infrastructure, lingering violence, and uncertainty over Israel’s continued presence in the south.
By Laila Bassam, Thomas Suen and Pesha Magid
BEIRUT/QASMIYEH/JERUSALEM, Lebanon, April 17 (Reuters) - People uprooted by the war in Lebanon began returning to devastated towns and neighbourhoods on Friday, with many finding their homes destroyed or uninhabitable and hesitant to stay for fear a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel could unravel.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States had banned Israel from further bombing in Lebanon, a day after he announced the 10-day ceasefire. The agreement between Lebanon and Israel has added to optimism that the parallel war between the United States and Iran could be nearing an end.
While Trump says Lebanon and Israel will work towards a longer-term deal, the ceasefire leaves big questions. Notably, it does not demand Israel withdraw soldiers occupying parts of the south, where Israel's defence minister said Israeli troops would continue to demolish homes he claimed were being used by Hezbollah. Iran-backed Hezbollah, which operates independently of the Lebanese state, has said it maintains "the right to resist".
Late on Friday, an Israeli strike killed at least one person in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said. The Israeli military said it was checking the report.
SMELL OF DEATH
In the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, hills of rubble stood where there had once been apartment blocks and the smell of death hung in the air. Ali Hamza said he found his home intact, but that people were scared to return for now.
"It is impossible to live in these circumstances, and with these smells. A full return is difficult now, despite the hardship of displacement." He had gathered school books from the house: "We lost everything; we don't want them to lose the school year."
In Qasmiyeh in southern Lebanon, cars were driving across a makeshift crossing over the Litani River, hastily erected after the ceasefire came into effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT). Israel destroyed all the bridges over the Litani during the war, blowing up the one at Qasmiyeh on Thursday.
Hezbollah expressed "cautious commitment" to the ceasefire on Friday, but said it must ensure that all Israeli hostilities stop and limit the Israeli military's "freedom of movement" in Lebanon. The group's lawmakers also said the ceasefire "was primarily achieved due to Iranian pressure".
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday the Strait of Hormuz was open following the agreement of the Lebanon ceasefire. Writing on X, he said that it was open for all commercial vessels for the remainder of the 10-day truce.
TRUMP SAYS ISRAEL "PROHIBITED" FROM BOMBING LEBANON
Lebanon was dragged into war on March 2, when Hezbollah opened fire at Israel in support of Iran, sparking an Israeli offensive that authorities say has killed nearly 2,300 people and displaced 1.2 million, just 16 months after the last Hezbollah-Israel war. Hezbollah's Shi'ite Muslim constituents have borne the brunt once again.
Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel. Two Israeli civilians and 13 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the hostilities, Israel says.
In a social media post, Trump said "Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer".
"They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!" he said.
Earlier, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said territory south of the Litani, which meets the Mediterranean 30 km (20 miles) north of the Israeli border, had yet to be cleared of Hezbollah militants and arms.
"This will have to be done politically or through the continuation of the IDF's military activity after the ceasefire ends," he said.
Katz said Israeli forces would continue to hold seized territory, saying Israel had established a "security zone" extending 10 km (6 miles) into Lebanon.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, whose administration this week held Beirut's highest-level contact with Israel in decades, said Lebanon faced "sensitive and pivotal" negotiations with Israel.
He said his focus was to ensure the ceasefire stood, Israel withdrew, and prisoners were released.
The Lebanese government has sought Hezbollah's peaceful disarmament for a year, and banned its military activities on March 2. Any move by the Lebanese state to disarm Hezbollah by force would risk conflict in a country shattered by civil war from 1975 to 1990.
Israel's main demand remained that Hezbollah must be dismantled, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
Trump said Lebanon on Thursday had agreed to "take care of Hezbollah".
"IT'S UNLIVEABLE"
Israel ordered residents out of swathes of the south during the war.
"There's destruction and it's unliveable. Unliveable. We’re taking our things and leaving again," said Fadel Badreddine, who was visiting the largely destroyed southern city of Nabatieh with his wife and son.
An Israeli military source said that "at this stage, Lebanese civilians are not yet permitted to return to southern Lebanon." The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the military was prepared to defend Israeli communities from "forward defense positions within Lebanon."
Lina Khatib, an associate fellow at the Chatham House policy institute in London, said it was likely there would be "a continuation of Israeli activity in southern Lebanon to bolster its objective of establishing a buffer zone".
"Even if there are military infringements of the terms of the ceasefire, this will not necessarily mean abandoning the different stakeholders' political commitment to the ceasefire terms," she said.
The Lebanese army reported ceasefire violations by Israel, including intermittent shelling of several southern Lebanese villages, and urged citizens to hold off o
Many Lebanese have started returning due to the recently enacted ceasefire, but some are finding their homes destroyed or uninhabitable.
The ceasefire is holding mostly, but there are fears it could unravel and isolated incidents have occurred since it took effect.
Southern Lebanon, especially areas around the Litani River and Hezbollah-controlled suburbs of Beirut, have been heavily bombed and are devastated.
The conflict has killed nearly 2,300 people and displaced 1.2 million in Lebanon, leaving many homes destroyed and causing significant hardship.
The United States brokered the ceasefire, prohibiting Israel from bombing Lebanon, while Iran also influenced negotiations.
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