{"id":224834,"date":"2025-01-26T23:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T23:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/26\/as-thousands-try-to-return-home-mideast-cease-fires-appear-fragile\/"},"modified":"2025-01-26T23:09:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-26T23:09:13","slug":"as-thousands-try-to-return-home-mideast-cease-fires-appear-fragile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/26\/as-thousands-try-to-return-home-mideast-cease-fires-appear-fragile\/","title":{"rendered":"As Thousands Try to Return Home, Mideast Cease-Fires Appear Fragile"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/26\/multimedia\/26mideast-crisis-leadall-01-gmlj\/26mideast-crisis-leadall-01-gmlj-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"As Thousands Try to Return Home, Mideast Cease-Fires Appear Fragile\" title=\"As Thousands Try to Return Home, Mideast Cease-Fires Appear Fragile\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza appeared increasingly fragile on Sunday after Israeli forces killed scores of people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese officials said, while in Gaza, Israel prevented Palestinians from moving back to their homes, saying Hamas had violated the terms of the truce.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Lebanon, negotiators had hoped that the cease-fire, which was signed in November, would become permanent, securing a measure of calm in a turbulent region. Thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war have poured onto roads leading south, heading back to their homes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But as a deadline passed on Sunday for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the forces of the militant group Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, a very different scenario was taking shape. Lebanon\u2019s Health Ministry said Israeli forces killed at least 22 people and injured 120 in southern Lebanon, making Sunday the deadliest day in the country since the war ended in November.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military said in a statement late on Sunday that it had fired \u201cwarning shots in order to eliminate threats\u201d \u2014 a formulation that suggested the shots may have been more than just warnings. It said that there had been \u201cdozens of rioters\u201d in the area. The military also said its soldiers had spotted a \u201ca vehicle with Hezbollah flags\u201d and that its forces had \u201coperated in order to remove the threat.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent days, Israeli officials have <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/24\/world\/middleeast\/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-withdrawal-deadline.html\" title=\"\">expressed concerns<\/a> that Hezbollah remains active in southern Lebanon and it has doubts about the Lebanese Army\u2019s ability to rein in the group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Those claims could not be independently verified. The five-member committee overseeing the implementation of the cease-fire has not publicly released any information regarding Hezbollah\u2019s compliance with the terms of the truce.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, warned in a statement on Sunday that it was \u201cimperative to avoid further deterioration of the situation.\u201d It called on the Israeli military to avoid firing at civilians, and for Lebanese to adhere to the directives of Lebanon\u2019s military.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cFurther violence risks undermining the fragile security situation,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In its statement late on Sunday, the Israeli military said it was \u201cdetermined to continue to operate in accordance with the understanding between Israel and Lebanon, despite Hezbollah\u2019s attempts to return to southern Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Tens of thousands of Israelis who were evacuated from their homes in northern Israel 15 months ago have been reluctant to return, fearing cross-border attacks from Hezbollah.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the Gaza Strip on Sunday, civilians displaced by war were likewise stymied from returning to their homes. Israeli troops <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/25\/world\/middleeast\/israel-hamas-gaza-hostage-yehud.html\" title=\"\">prevented them<\/a> from doing so after Israeli officials accused Hamas of violating the terms of the cease-fire agreement that went into effect a week ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Officials on both sides said they were in contact with mediators to try to resolve the crisis, one of the most significant between the parties since the cease-fire brought at least a temporary halt in fighting after 15 months of devastating war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Under the terms of the initial phase of the Gaza cease-fire <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2025\/01\/17\/world\/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire\" title=\"\">agreed to this month<\/a>, Israel had been expected to withdraw some of its forces and allow hundreds of thousands of uprooted Gazans to head north after a second <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/25\/world\/middleeast\/hamas-israel-hostages-oct-7.html\" title=\"\">hostage and prisoner exchange<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli government said Hamas had violated the deal by not adhering to the agreed order of hostage releases and by failing to provide Israel with information about the status of the captives still in Gaza who were seized when the militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israeli officials said that under the agreement, one of the hostages, Arbel Yehud, an Israeli civilian, was supposed to be among the women released on Saturday as part of the exchange for Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons. Hamas freed four female Israeli soldiers and Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners \u2014 but the whereabouts of Ms. Yehud were unclear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hussein al-Batsh, an official of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller armed organization and sometime rival of Hamas in Gaza, told The New York Times on Sunday that Ms. Yehud was in the custody of the Quds Brigades, the group\u2019s military wing. He said that Ms. Yehud was not released on Saturday for \u201ctechnical reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. al-Batsh said that senior Islamic Jihad leaders were involved in the discussions with the mediators. A spokesman for the group, Mohammed al-Haj Mousa, then said in a statement that Ms. Yehud would be released before next Saturday to allow displaced Gazans to return to the north as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel denied that any agreement had been reached on Ms. Yehud\u2019s return. An official familiar with the details said on Sunday evening that contacts with the mediators were continuing and repeated that Israel would not allow displaced Gazans to move north until the issue of Ms. Yehud\u2019s release had been resolved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Sunday, images of a large crowd of displaced Palestinians waiting near <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/23\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-us-contractors.html\" title=\"\">the Netzarim corridor<\/a> \u2014 a zone built by Israeli forces that splits Gaza in two \u2014 to return north were circulating in Palestinian media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Wafa, the Palestinian Authority\u2019s news agency, reported that one person had been killed and several others were wounded west of Nuseirat in central Gaza after Israeli forces fired at the crowd of people waiting to return north. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One Palestinian, Ghada al-Kurd, 37, said she had chosen to remain in central Gaza on Sunday despite longing to return to her home in the north.<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>\u201cI will not risk my life,\u201d she said. \u201cThose soldiers cannot be trusted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. al-Kurd, who left her home and her two daughters behind in Gaza City in the early weeks of the war, was once again left wondering when she would finally get to see them. \u201cHere we are just waiting, feeling stressed and anxious,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are playing with our fate,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Similar sentiments were expressed among the thousands of Lebanese who were attempting to return home to towns and villages along the Israeli border, despite warnings by the Lebanese and Israeli militaries that it was not yet safe to do so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people waited anxiously outside Meiss al-Jabal, a village along Lebanon\u2019s southern border.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ibrahim Hamoud, 41, said he had recently seen a video sent by a friend in the Lebanese Army of his house inside the village: The structure was standing, offering him a measure of relief, though the video also showed an Israeli tank stationed just outside his front door, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019ve been away from my village, from my house, for more than a year,\u201d Mr. Hamoud said in a phone interview. \u201cI never thought I\u2019d be back.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The crisis poses a critical test for Lebanon\u2019s new leaders, President <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/09\/world\/middleeast\/lebanon-politics-president-parliament-vote.html\" title=\"\">Joseph Aoun<\/a> and Prime Minister-designate <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/13\/world\/middleeast\/lebanon-nawaf-salam-prime-minister.html\" title=\"\">Nawaf Salam<\/a>, as they seek to wrest back some political control from Hezbollah and build a functioning state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Experts warn that any prolonged Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon could breathe new life into Hezbollah, a group that was founded to liberate Lebanon from Israeli occupation and that has portrayed itself as the only force capable of protecting Lebanon\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAs long as Israel is occupying Lebanon, it\u2019s reviving the narrative of Hezbollah,\u201d said Sami Nader, the director of the Institute of Political Science at Saint Joseph University of Beirut.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For those who managed to enter their villages in southern Lebanon, the scale of destruction was overwhelming. Entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble in the Israeli invasion that began on Oct. 1, 2024, which was aimed at crippling Hezbollah. The militant group began opening fire on Israel a day after the Hamas attack that set off the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the southern town of Aita al-Shaab, much of which <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/30\/world\/middleeast\/israel-lebanon-border-photos-video.html\" title=\"\">now lies in ruin<\/a>, residents walked through rubble-strewn streets and by flattened buildings. Among them was Mohamed Srour, the town\u2019s mayor, who had been displaced more than a year ago after the strikes between Hezbollah and Israel began.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He said that Israeli soldiers had not yet fully withdrawn from the town and that they were firing sporadically at civilians. The claims could not be independently verified. Still, Mr. Srour remained resolute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cToday, Aita is celebrating the long-awaited return,\u201d he said. \u201cThe houses are destroyed and the livelihood is gone, but our will to live is stronger. We will build again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Reporting was contributed by <!-- -->Hiba Yazbek<!-- -->, <!-- -->Iyad Abuheweila<!-- -->, <!-- -->Johnatan Reiss<!-- -->, <!-- -->Gabby Sobelman<!-- -->, <!-- -->Myra Noveck<!-- -->, <!-- -->Hwaida Saad<!-- --> and <!-- -->Dayana Iwaza<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/26\/world\/middleeast\/lebanon-gaza-cease-fires.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza appeared increasingly fragile on Sunday after Israeli forces killed scores of people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese officials said, while in Gaza, Israel prevented Palestinians from moving back to their homes, saying Hamas had violated the terms of the truce. In Lebanon, negotiators had hoped that the cease-fire, which was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/26\/multimedia\/26mideast-crisis-leadall-01-gmlj\/26mideast-crisis-leadall-01-gmlj-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[100613,32965,32652,5552,16220,148,16221,7274,166347,103120,3950,57],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224836,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224834\/revisions\/224836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}