Tens of thousands of people forcibly displaced by Israeli military attacks on Lebanon used the first day of a newly declared ceasefire to return to their homes, in one of the most visible signs that the halt in hostilities is holding. The ceasefire was announced by US President Donald Trump following negotiations, bringing a pause to a conflict that had driven mass displacement across Lebanon, a small Mediterranean country of roughly five million people that has repeatedly been caught in cycles of war involving Israel and armed groups on its territory.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia political and military movement that was a principal party to the fighting, signalled its conditional commitment to the agreement. Mahmoud Qomati, deputy head of Hezbollah's political council and a former Lebanese minister, stated that the group would abide by the ceasefire for as long as Israel honoured it — a caveat reflecting the experience of previous ceasefires that Hezbollah says were violated. Qomati attributed the inclusion of Lebanon within the broader ceasefire framework, reached in Islamabad between Washington and Tehran, to Iranian diplomatic pressure on the United States. He also denied any ongoing communication between Hezbollah and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun since negotiations with Israel began.
On the question of whether Hezbollah would eventually disarm and confine itself to political activity — a long-standing demand from Lebanese state institutions and international actors — Qomati offered a qualified opening. He indicated the group would be willing to place its weapons under state authority and transition to a purely political role, but set firm preconditions: the full liberation of Lebanese territory, a complete Israeli withdrawal, and reconstruction of areas destroyed during the war. He described Hezbollah's arsenal as a matter of Lebanese internal consensus to be resolved through a national defence strategy.
Why this matters: the mass return of displaced residents is a powerful human measure of the ceasefire's early effectiveness, but the political architecture underpinning it remains fragile. The conditionality expressed by Hezbollah, the unresolved questions around arms and sovereignty, and the broader regional tensions — including ongoing US-Iran negotiations over a separate deal — all point to a settlement that is still being constructed around its edges. Whether the momentum of returning families can translate into durable political agreements will be the defining test of the weeks ahead.