The Albany Gazette - Lebanese civilians head home as truce with Israel takes effect

The Lebanese army had warned the residents not to go back to the areas, which have been pounded by Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah, and the Iran-backed movement said its finger remained "on the trigger" in the event of any violations.

But at the bombed Qasmiyeh bridge near the southern city of Tyre, AFP reporters found long queues of families waiting for bulldozers to restore the crossing so they could head home.

For some returnees, the short truce between Israel and the Lebanese government, brokered under pressure from US President Donald Trump, was a new source of hope.

"Our feelings are indescribable, pride and victory," 37-year-old Amani Atrash told AFP from her car seat, adding she hoped the truce would be extended.

Across the border in Israel, the military's home front command had not yet removed restrictions on civilian movements in vulnerable border areas.

Still, some civilians there were daring to hope for a return to a more normal life.

"I've got a three-year-old girl and a two-month-old baby, and the whole time we've just not left the house because you never know when there'll be a rocket attack," 31-year-old Ofir Ben Aris Lev told AFP.

"It's been crazy, but I think things will be quiet now and I'll be able to take my daughter to the park", he added.

- 'High alert' -

Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has been pummelled by Israeli strikes and engaged its forces on the ground in the south, has indicated it will respect the truce unless Lebanon is attacked again.

"The fighters will keep their finger on the trigger because they are wary of the enemy's treachery," the movement said in a statement.

The ceasefire represents a key step in Washington's efforts to reach a deal to end its war with Iran, after Tehran insisted that halting the Lebanon fighting must be part of any agreement.

Pakistan has been leading a diplomatic push to restart face-to-face talks between Tehran and Washington, and Trump said they were "very close" to striking an agreement.

The fighting broke out in Lebanon on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel a few days after the start of the Middle East war in retribution for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

As the ceasefire came into effect, Israel's military said it had struck over 380 "Hezbollah terror organisation targets in southern Lebanon" and was on "high alert" to resume strikes.

Trump said he had spoken to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ahead of the truce, which he said they had agreed "in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries".

He later said he expected Netanyahu and Aoun to visit the White House "over the next four or five days".

- 'Very happy' -

A top-level face-to-face meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli leadership would be a watershed moment for the region. But it remained to be seen whether it would take place.

Netanyahu said the ceasefire with Lebanon offered an opportunity for a "historic peace agreement" with Beirut -- but insisted that the disarmament of Hezbollah remained a precondition.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump's announcement, saying a truce was a "key Lebanese demand that we have pursued since the very first day of the war".

But the Lebanese president had rejected Trump's request for a direct call with Netanyahu, an official source told AFP.

Trump called the developments "very exciting", in response to a question from an AFP reporter as he left the White House.

"Today they're going to be having a ceasefire, and that'll include Hezbollah," he said.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim al-Moussawi told AFP it would "cautiously adhere" to the truce if Israeli attacks stopped, thanking Iran for having applied pressure in Lebanon's favour.

Iranian state television portrayed the ceasefire as the result of Tehran's "insistence" alongside Hezbollah's "resistance".

Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the truce but would maintain a 10-kilometre (six-mile) "security zone" along the border in southern Lebanon.

Violence continued right up until shortly before the truce began, with Lebanon's health ministry saying at least seven people were killed and more than 30 wounded in an Israeli strike on the town of Ghazieh on Thursday.

burs/dc/smw

(W.Walker--TAG)