Key facts
- Residents returned to Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, southern Lebanon, on Friday after Israeli troops withdrew.
- The Lebanese army began deploying in the town on Tuesday.
- Mayor Abed Ezzeddin stated that more than half of the town has been destroyed.
- A U.S.-brokered plan involves the Lebanese army confiscating Hezbollah weapons in designated areas.
- Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc dismissed the Lebanese army's deployment as a symbolic exercise.
Residents began returning to the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Friday to inspect their homes and search for belongings following the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of the Lebanese army. The town has suffered extensive damage, with Mayor Abed Ezzeddin reporting that over half of it has been destroyed. Many residents expressed a strong desire to return and rebuild despite the destruction.
The return is part of a U.S.-brokered agreement that aims for the Lebanese army to confiscate weapons from Hezbollah in designated areas as Israeli forces withdraw in phases. Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh is one of three towns included in the initial pilot program. However, Israeli troops still occupy territory further into southern Lebanon, where villages have been razed. Tens of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced from the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
Lebanese army units have been sweeping Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh for mines and unexploded ordnance, and ambulances were present to remove bodies of Hezbollah fighters. A senior Lebanese military official indicated that considerable work is still needed to declare the town safe. Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, meanwhile, dismissed the Lebanese army's deployment as a symbolic gesture.