Rebuilding in the shadow of conflict: Lebanese villagers return to destroyed homes as security issues persist

Report by Edmond Sassine, English adaptation by Mariella Succar

In the village of Boustane, a woman symbolically hung the keys to her destroyed home on a tree where its entrance once stood. 

The remnants of war are evident throughout the village, with scattered fragments of shells and explosive devices used by the Israeli army to demolish homes.

Ahmed, who had returned from Germany to settle in his villa, walked through the debris. Like him, many expatriates who had built homes have found their neighborhoods obliterated. Residents now sleep in the open to prevent looting.

The only safe route to Marwahin passes through Um El Tout, where the destruction mirrors that of other villages in the western sector. 

These areas, recently vacated by Israeli forces and re-entered by the Lebanese army and civilians, have been reduced to rubble, with no recognizable landmarks remaining.

Israeli forces maintain a stronghold on Jabal Blat, a strategic mountain in the far western sector near Marwahin, where they have established a military outpost equipped with a crane, cameras, and surveillance systems. Accessing the area remains perilous.

In addition, the Israeli military holds positions on the Labbouneh hills, stretching from Ras Al-Naqoura to the outskirts of Aalma. 

Their military installations are visible, and reports suggest that these positions, along with others such as Tal al-Owaida, El Hamames, and the hills of Kfarchouba and Chebaa in the east, will remain under Israeli control.

In the central sector, the Lebanese army and the Red Cross successfully entered the devastated village of Rmaych, recovering bodies from the rubble. 

Civilians accompanying the recovery team were met with a stun grenade and gunfire. The Lebanese army is working to secure the town to establish a presence, while Israeli forces remain stationed at the northern and eastern entrances to Yaroun.

Elsewhere in the central and eastern sectors, little has changed. On the third day of the joint efforts by residents and the Lebanese army, tensions escalated when residents of Kfarkela blocked the Khardali road in protest against being denied access to their village.
As residents attempt to return and rebuild, they face a dual challenge of navigating destroyed infrastructure and overcoming security concerns posed by Israeli military positions that remain entrenched in key locations across southern Lebanon.