Some 400,000 displaced Lebanese have gone back to their areas of origin, according to officials, even as Israeli forces continue to occupy swathes of southern Lebanon .
In an announcement on Monday , Social Affairs Minister Dr. Hanin El-Sayed said that roughly 40 percent of the approximately 1 million people displaced by Israel’s war on Lebanon have opted to return.
She added that the number of people staying in shelters has dropped from 37,000 to 13,000, meaning that over 60 percent of those who took refuge in 692 centres across the country have since left.
The scores of people desperate to return home despite the uncertainty have led to shelters closing in almost every governorate except Nabatieh, where additional centres were opened for those who preferred to remain close to their villages.
The figures come after Lebanon and Israel, under US sponsorship, signed a framework agreement on Friday aimed at ending hostilities and restoring Lebanon’s sovereignty over its territory through both the disarmament of Hezbollah and a phased Israeli withdrawal.
In practice, however, Tel Aviv appears intent on maintaining a military presence in southern Lebanon, raising serious questions about the safety of those seeking to return to the south.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said the army’s presence in Lebanon would be "long-term", while media reports in Haaretz state troops have yet to withdraw from any area inside Lebanese territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said at a military graduation that troops would stay in what he described as "security zones".
A senior Lebanese army source told The New Arab on Monday that the towns of Frun, Zawtar al-Gharbiya and Ghandouriya in the Nabatieh district are not currently occupied by Israeli forces, amid earlier Israeli discussions about designating them as "experimental zones".
Despite ongoing concerns, Lebanon’s political leadership has publicly reaffirmed its commitment to the framework agreement.
President Joseph Aoun told US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper on Monday that he was committed to extending state authority , through the Lebanese army, all the way to the border with Israel.
On Tuesday, Aoun met Army Commander General Rudolph Heikel to discuss the army’s role in southern Lebanon ahead of anticipated deployments under the agreement.
Hezbollah, however, has rejected the deal from the outset . The group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem has called the agreement “null and void” and reiterated Hezbollah’s claimed right to self-defence.
Meanwhile, Israeli military action has continued despite the framework. Lebanese state media reported multiple Israeli strikes overnight and into Tuesday morning.
The National News Agency said Israeli attacks targeted the area between Qanatra and Deir Siran in the Marjeyoun district at dawn, only hours after additional artillery shelling was reported in the town of Haddatha, in Bint Jbeil.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 4,200 people since the war began on 2 March.