Lebanese Residents Return to Destroyed Homes as U.S.-Iran Deal Offers Uncertain Peace Prospect

Residents of southern Lebanon are cautiously returning to their war-ravaged homes following the announcement of a U.S.-Iran agreement aimed at ending Middle East conflicts, including the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Adnan Kaour, a German-based Lebanese resident, returned to his apartment in Tyre, the coastal city once known as an idyllic summer destination, only to find it reduced to rubble and broken glass after Israeli airstrikes targeted the area. Similar scenes of destruction greeted other residents including Samih Haidar, whose apartment had been damaged and a rented unit occupied by displaced families was gutted by fire.

While the U.S.-Iran deal calls for an end to the war in Lebanon, its practical effectiveness remains highly uncertain. Israel and Hezbollah are not formal parties to the agreement. Iran has demanded that Israel withdraw from the territory it occupies in southern Lebanon, but the interim deal language only guarantees Lebanon's "territorial integrity" without explicitly mandating Israeli withdrawal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet commented on the deal, while Israel has pledged to maintain its military presence in the region and Hezbollah has vowed to continue resisting Israeli forces.

The fragility of any ceasefire was underscored by Israeli drone strikes that continued on Thursday morning in southern towns, including one that killed one person and critically wounded another in Kfar Tebnit—just hours after the deal's announcement. Fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah was still ongoing in villages and towns across southern Lebanon as of Wednesday.

Lebanese residents express a mixture of hope and deep skepticism about the prospects for lasting peace. Residents have endured too many failed ceasefire announcements in the past to place full confidence in another agreement. "I'm hopeful for peace, and God willing this is the end of the war, and everyone can go back to their homes," Kaour said, acknowledging that many Lebanese, though living abroad, maintain their emotional and mental connection to their homeland. The return of displaced families and the clearing of rubble-filled streets reflects both determination to rebuild and uncertainty about whether any durable resolution will materialize.