A week after the Lebanese army took control of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, only about 15 families had returned, with many coming back to homes too damaged to live in.
Nearly half the village’s 500 homes were destroyed and many others damaged, the mayor said, leaving returnees like Mahasen Faqih and her husband to shelter in their grocery shop.
The returns follow a U.S.-brokered pilot-zones deal under which Israel is to withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament, though residents say Israeli troops remain nearby and drones still fly overhead.
Israel’s defense minister said Israeli forces still control 700 square kilometers of southern Lebanon and that 24 villages and 15,000 to 20,000 houses in Lebanon have been destroyed.
Technical teams from Lebanon and Israel are due to meet in Rome from Aug. 4 to discuss additional pilot zones, but local officials say the current handover has yet to make residents feel secure.