Residents of Nabatieh Begin Returning Home as Israeli Strikes Stop

Shiite residents in Lebanon began returning to villages that had been evacuated on Israel Defense Forces orders during the past month, without waiting long after the fighting eased. Large traffic jams formed on roads heading from the Beirut area northward toward southern Lebanon, especially along the coastal highway to Sidon and Tyre, which had been evacuated following an Arabic-language IDF spokesman's warning.

Movement back into the interior of the country was also visible. On the road to Nabatieh, the second-largest city in southern Lebanon after Tyre and located on the slopes of Beaufort, convoys of cars, shepherds with flocks, and returning residents were seen heading home.

Locals noticed that Israeli strikes stopped on Thursday, and the possibility that Nabatieh would be occupied was taken off the table. Shiite figures in Lebanon, including those outside Hezbollah, are also welcoming the Iranian-brokered arrangement, which they see as restoring Lebanon to the status of an Iranian protectorate under Tehran's protection.