‘Just want to go back’: Lebanese await return as army enters ‘pilot zone’

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that the Lebanese army entered Zawtar al-Gharbiya in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, beginning implementation of a United States-brokered framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel. The deal, signed in the US on June 26, provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal and Lebanese army deployment aimed at stopping Hezbollah from returning to the area. Zawtar al-Gharbiya is one of three initial “pilot zones” under the agreement.

According to the report, displaced families gathered at the town’s entrance hoping to check their homes, but the army delayed their return while engineering teams searched for unexploded ordnance. Al Jazeera said the danger was underscored hours later when two Red Cross paramedics were injured by a landmine while searching for bodies. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam later entered the town and placed a Lebanese flag near a destroyed building, saying the government remained committed to securing Israel’s full withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

The development comes amid deep divisions in Lebanon over the agreement and the state’s approach to Hezbollah. Al Jazeera reported that some residents questioned whether Israel would leave other villages and feared Israeli forces could return to inspect for Hezbollah activity. President Joseph Aoun has described the arrangement as imperfect but the best available option, while Hezbollah supporters cited in the report rejected direct talks with Israel.

The deployment matters because it tests whether Lebanon’s army can reassert authority in parts of the south after years of limited state presence and amid ongoing Israel-Hezbollah hostilities that began in October 2023.