Displaced Lebanese families rush home as fragile ceasefire holds
發佈日期: 2026-04-18 22:20
TVB News
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a national address that Lebanon is moving from ceasefire implementation efforts toward securing long-term stability.
This as Lebanese and Israeli leaders agreed on a ceasefire deal that doesn't include Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is "not yet finished" with Hezbollah.
The truce between Israel and Lebanon seemed to be holding early Friday. Northern Israeli residents living near the border noted that the serious suffering brought by the fighting needs to stop.
While some assume everything might turn back at some point since no arrangement has been made with Hezbollah, some others expressed their strong yearning for peace, saying they want the war to end once and for all.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he wants his country to chart its own course, emphasising "These negotiations are not weakness, nor retreat, nor surrender." He has also outlined main objectives including halting Israeli attacks, ensuring withdrawal of their troops, and securing the return of prisoners.
US President Donald Trump has invited Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House, although no date has been set yet.
US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack acknowledged the ceasefire was delicate and a start, as "everybody's been equally untrustworthy".
Barrack said: "Look, I think the brilliance of what happened yesterday is it stopped senseless killing, and President Trump had Secretary (of State) Rubio stepping in strongly with Israel and saying, we need a timeout...So will the ceasefire stick? What will we do? It's baby steps."
"Everybody is rushing to fill in those pieces. We see what didn't work in that 2024. Remember, we still have a mechanism and pentalateral and effect. We have a whole organisation that responds to requests for action from either side. It's trust building. And it's the first step of trust building."
Lebanon's health ministry reported the death toll from the war reached 2,294 people between March 2nd and Thursday.
In Nabatiyeh, three Israeli drone strikes on teams of ambulances reportedly claimed the lives of four paramedics and wounded six others earlier this week.
The strikes have drawn condemnation from the United Nations' human rights office which warned intentionally targeting medics constituted a war crime.
After the US-brokered 10-day ceasefire took hold on Friday, thousands are travelling for kilometres on a route to evacuated villages in southern Lebanon on vehicles piled high with salvaged belongings.
Many returnees found their communities demolished, nevertheless the scale of destruction did not change their feelings about their home.
