Will the Israel-Lebanon framework agreement ease the agony of south Lebanon’s displaced?
BEIRUT: Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese displaced by months of conflict have begun returning to their homes in the country’s south after Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on June 26 that brought hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah to a halt.
A more limited return had begun nine days earlier in Beirut’s southern suburbs and several villages in the south, coinciding with the announcement of the Iran-US agreement in Islamabad. Lebanese authorities estimate that some 1.2 million people were displaced during the conflict.
Haneen Sayed, Lebanon’s social affairs minister, said around 400,000 people returned to southern Lebanon within 24 hours of the framework agreement, while the International Organization for Migration said 646,107 had returned, according to its latest assessment.
Around half a million people, however, remain displaced.
