The Media Line: Lebanese Families Return South as Ceasefire Opens a Narrow Window 

Lebanese Families Return South as Ceasefire Opens a Narrow Window 

Tens of thousands of displaced residents are heading home even as destruction, Israeli restrictions, and diplomatic uncertainty cloud the truce 

By Taylor Thomas / The Media Line 

From northern to southern Lebanon, victorious fingers emerge from car windows, along with flags and national anthems. Young and old alike lean out of their vehicles to join the scene. They are stuck in traffic, but it doesn’t matter: the destination makes it all worthwhile. After 46 days of displacement, tens of thousands of Lebanese began the return journey to their homes, or what remains of them, after the 10-day ceasefire took effect on April 17. By April 21, though, the first wave of return had given way to a more complicated reality, with many families finding homes destroyed or uninhabitable and Israel warning residents to stay out of a belt of territory in southern Lebanon that it appears determined to hold for now. Israeli officials say their campaign was aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding its military presence near the border and threatening northern Israeli communities. 

As she continued to creep forward in her car, a couple of meters every few minutes, Lama recalled a Lebanese saying: “Whoever leaves their home loses their worth.” Without stopping, she told The Media Line, “We were displaced in an area that took us in, but our home will always be better.” 

“We are proud to be from southern Lebanon, and we are very happy to be returning,” she said, while her aunt and cousins, with her in the car, nodded in agreement. “We can return to our homes thanks to the blood of our martyrs, and we will carry these honorable men with us wherever we go,” said Lama, as she traveled to a town 10 kilometers from the Israeli border. 

On the roads, the atmosphere was one of celebration. Flags of the Shiite parties, Hezbollah and Amal, waved from cars, bridges, and the roadside. The country’s main highways once again overflowed, this time in the opposite direction of the exodus. Yet by April 21, the mood was more mixed than in the first hours after the truce, as families returned to devastated towns and villages and Israeli warnings made clear that the ceasefire had not restored anything like normal life in the south. 

But the joy may have an expiration date. The truce agreed upon between Israel and Lebanon will last only 10 days. “We won’t deny that we are afraid,” Lama acknowledged. “But we’re making the most of these 10 days because we really missed our land, our homes, we missed the air in the south, the air of home, the air of the garden …,” she listed hurriedly. She wanted to continue on her way. 

Like Lama, 1.2 million people were displaced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes and evacuation orders. A small number stayed in public shelters, such as schools or government-run pavilions, although hundreds had to sleep outdoors or in tents. Many people understood that when they reached their destination, they might find only a pile of rubble. That is why some brought their tents with them, intending to erect them on the ruins of their homes. 

“We’ve come back because this is our land, and we must stay here, because in this land we have our livelihoods and we can’t do without it,” Ali told The Media Line. Along with his children, he left his refuge in the north at dawn and began the journey home. After confirming that his house was still standing and taking the opportunity to shower and sleep a little, he returned to the roadside to watch his fellow citizens returning to their homes. 

“This land is precious to us; we cannot abandon it, no matter what,” he said, acknowledging that he was “happy” and “joyful” on this historic day. That “no matter what” may be tested not only by the decisions of Beirut and Washington, but also by Israel’s warning that civilians should stay out of parts of southern Lebanon near the border and the Litani River. 

As part of the ceasefire arrangement, a diplomatic track is also taking shape. A second round of ambassador-level Israel-Lebanon talks is scheduled in Washington, following the first direct talks between the two countries in decades on April 14. That gives the truce a political dimension beyond the immediate halt in fighting, even as the two countries remain formally at war and have no diplomatic relations. 

“For me, there is no peace with them,” said Warda, who is heading with her mother to their home 18 km from the border with Israel. “They [Israel] are our enemy, because they killed many people—children, women, girls, civilians—they tortured us, and they destroyed things that are unacceptable; they were unacceptably oppressive,” she told The Media Line. “This conflict has not been military,” concluded her mother, Mariam. 

The Lebanese Health Ministry says at least 2,294 people were killed and 7,544 wounded during the 46-day Israeli offensive in Lebanon, including 177 children, 274 women, and 100 paramedics and health workers. In Israel, 15 people were killed in the fighting—13 soldiers and two civilians. Israel has said it targeted Hezbollah fighters, weapons routes, and infrastructure in Lebanon. 

Until the ceasefire took effect at midnight local time at the start of Friday, April 17, 2026, Israeli warplanes continued bombing. In Tyre, the main coastal city in southern Lebanon, at least 15 people were killed and another 35 wounded in an attack on a residential complex. Rescue workers reported that at least 10 people were missing in the immediate aftermath, though an updated figure could not be verified as of April 21. 

Hours before the truce was set to begin, Israeli bombs destroyed the Qasmiyeh Bridge, the last bridge connecting the south and north of the country over the Litani River. In the early hours of the morning, the Lebanese army repaired it to help returning civilians cross back into the south. 

On Thursday afternoon, an Israeli attack on a motorcycle and a car on a road in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon left one dead and three wounded. “Israel will not bomb Lebanon again. The United States has PROHIBITED them from doing so. Enough is enough!” wrote President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform. Since then, though, the ceasefire has proved fragile rather than absolute, with Israel maintaining its position in southern Lebanon even as the truce has largely held. 

Meanwhile, Hezbollah, which Israel and many Western governments consider a terrorist organization, reminded Israel in a statement that its fighters “keep their hands on the trigger, vigilant against the enemy’s treachery,” and announced a total of 2,184 military operations, an average of 49 per day. Despite the human and physical losses, Hezbollah has emerged strengthened among many of its followers. The mere fact of being able to return to their lands makes them feel victorious. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has called for “national responsibility” in the next phase. “The eyes of the world are on Lebanon,” he said, according to a statement from the Lebanese Presidency. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted that the IDF “will maintain, and continue to maintain, all the places it has captured,” while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his goal is to dismantle Hezbollah, although “this will not be achieved overnight.” By April 20, Israel was effectively reinforcing that position by warning residents not to return to a border belt and by signaling it intended to keep a forward hold in the south for now. 

Much of the displaced population is still returning to their homes, brimming with pride but also confronting devastation, uncertainty, and the possibility that the ceasefire may not hold. “When we go abroad or wherever we are, and someone asks us where we’re from, we proudly say we’re from southern Lebanon, not just Lebanon,” Lama asserted, before finally speeding off.