The Israeli military have stopped people from returning to more than a dozen villages across southern Lebanon, expanding a no-go zone even as a fragile ceasefire remains in place.
An Israeli map published on Monday shows a red line cutting across 21 villages in southern Lebanon, urging residents not to enter the area between there and the border. The Israeli army added that its troops would remain there on what it called “terrorist activities” by Hezbollah.
A tenuous 10-day ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel came into effect on Friday after six weeks of intense Israeli bombardment and a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.
Under the terms of the truce, Israel has remained in areas of southern Lebanon it occupied during the ground offensive. On Sunday, its military published for the first time a map of what it called a “forward defence line,” bringing under its control dozens of villages stretching roughly 10km inside southern Lebanon.
Locals told The National that Israeli artillery has been fired at displaced people trying to return to border villages among the 55 listed by the Israeli army as “off limits”.
Israel has publicly referred to new its military boundary as the “yellow line” in Lebanon, echoing the arrangements imposed in the Gaza Strip following the war that began in October 2023.
Israel has also continued demolitions in Lebanese villages below the “yellow line”. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, quoting military commanders, that homes, public buildings and schools are being demolished during the ceasefire, with paid contractors operating heavy machinery as part of a broader policy to “clear the area”.
Under the agreement, Israel also reserves the right to take “immediate measures in self-defence” against anything it deems a threat; the Lebanese army and Hezbollah do not, according to the agreement.
Israel has not stopped its strikes on south Lebanon completely. On Friday, an Israeli drone struck a motorcycle rider and injured three others in the town of Kounine in Bint Jbeil district.
On Sunday, Israel said it launched attacks against Hezbollah fighters who were spotted entering an underground shaft south of its “forward defence line”.
“There is no return yet”
In Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahieh, residents told The National they expect the war to resume at any moment and are still cautious about returning home with their families or beginning repairs to their damaged properties.
Israeli displacement orders and bombing have forced hundreds of thousands to abandon Dahieh.
The southern suburbs now remain largely empty, as residents are cautious about returning home.
Groups of men gathered in front of the shops that are still open to eat breakfast, drink coffee or smoke narghile. Other residents are returning to assess the damage.
“Israel won’t stop until they get southern Lebanon,” said Hadi, who declined to give his last name, when asked about the truce. A resident of Dahieh, he has not left his home during the war, spending his days sitting on a plastic chair outside his coffee shop, which was damaged in an attack. His family, however, remains displaced in central Beirut and will not return until they feel it is safe enough.
“It’s all lies,” Hadi added.
Most buildings in Dahieh suffered some form of damage and remain uninhabitable, highlighting the precarious situation. The windows are blown out, possessions destroyed, thrown out on to the road or part of the mangled mess inside. The area has come under repeated attack in this war and in 2024 as Israel targeted Hezbollah fighters, including its former leader Hassan Nasrallah.
“There is no return yet. People are just coming to collect their belongings and clean up a bit; for us, the war has not stopped,” Hadi said.
An Israeli drone circled above – another breach of Lebanese airspace, and a reminder of the tenuous nature of the truce. While residents of Beirut – like many people in Lebanon – have long been used to it, the capital had been quiet since the ceasefire.
Several parts of the capital came under heavy Israeli bombardment over the past month, including areas that had not been targeted in fighting before.
Amid the constant buzz from overhead, a group of men were eating manouché, a traditional Lebanese breakfast. They laughed at the mention of the truce. “What ceasefire?” Ali asked. “No one trusts it”.
Another man cleaned shards of glass scattered in front of his shop. He said he hopes the ceasefire will hold. But he added that he would not begin the costly repairs needed for his shop, which was damaged in a strike – just in case.
“It’s only a temporary ceasefire; we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Lebanon was drawn into the regional conflict after Iran-backed Hezbollah began launching missiles at Israel from Lebanese territory on March 2 in support of Iran and after US-backed Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
But it also came after Israeli committed thousands of daily breaches to a 2024 ceasefire, including regular bombings across the country. Hezbollah did not react to these attacks, and has in part justified its recent attacks on Israel to the latter violation of the last truce accord.
More than 2,300 people have been killed by Israeli attacks since war broke out again, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
