A ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, brokered by Washington and in effect since last Thursday, is showing serious signs of strain — with rocket fire exchanged across the border on Tuesday and civilians in southern Lebanon caught between cautious hope and deep anxiety.

Hezbollah, the Iranian-aligned Shia militant group, claimed it fired rockets and drones at northern Israel on Tuesday, accusing Israeli forces of violating the truce by attacking civilians and destroying homes. Israeli forces, for their part, said Hezbollah had fired several rockets at their troops still operating inside southern Lebanon, calling it a "flagrant violation" of the ceasefire agreement. It was not immediately clear whether the two sides were describing the same incident. Israeli forces said they struck the launcher from which the rockets were fired, and that air-defence sirens in northern Israel were likely triggered by the interception of a drone launched from Lebanese territory. Meanwhile, Lebanese state media reported new Israeli demolitions in at least eight southern villages and artillery strikes in other areas — operations Israel says are targeting Hezbollah military infrastructure embedded in civilian areas. Israeli forces have remained deployed in a strip of Lebanese territory five to ten kilometres deep along the entire border, which Israel describes as an "advanced defence line" to protect its northern communities from future Hezbollah attacks. Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon's parliament and a senior Shia political figure aligned with Hezbollah, warned that if Israel maintained its presence in the south, it would "feel the smell of resistance every day." A second round of ambassador-level negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, mediated by the United States, is scheduled for Thursday.

The human and economic toll in southern Lebanon is severe. In Nabatiyeh — a commercial city of roughly 75,000 people about 35 kilometres east of the southern coast — the destruction from Israeli bombardments has been immense. The city's historic market was already devastated during the 2024 war; the 2026 strikes have compounded the damage. Merchants are tentatively reopening their stalls, clearing rubble from storefronts and attempting to restore some semblance of normal life. A vegetable and dairy seller described spoiled stock and an inability to operate without electricity. A pharmacist said he had brought back some inventory but had not yet unpacked it, keeping everything in boxes. "I returned hoping the ceasefire would be stable, but it's not really the case," he said. "I feel like I'm not going to come back."

The situation underscores the central tension of the current moment: while diplomatic efforts proceed in Washington, conditions on the ground in southern Lebanon remain volatile. The combination of continued Israeli military activity, mutual accusations of ceasefire violations, and the displacement of tens of thousands of residents means that any economic or social recovery remains deeply uncertain. For the people of Nabatiyeh and other southern towns, reopening a shop is an act of faith in a peace that has yet to fully take hold.