‘We want to be 100% sure’: war-weary Lebanese greet truce with caution

While officials welcome ceasefire, many people are uncertain it will last – and return to find homes destroyed

Hours after the US-Iran ceasefire was announced, residents of south Lebanon began to race back to their villages. One man filmed as he drove into the entrance of Harees, his arrival interrupted as the car in front of him suddenly veered off the road. An Israeli armoured vehicle was parked in the middle of the road less than 100 metres ahead; he scrambled to turn around.

“It was packed with explosives. I guess they still want to blow things up,” said Abdullah al-Ali, a municipal official in Harees. Ali added that the entrance to the town was blocked off after two other explosive-laden vehicles left by the Israelis were discovered in the area.