Lebanese Stream Back To Homes
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Lebanese civilians are streaming back to their homes in the southwestern part of the country as Israeli and Hezbollah guns fell silent under a UN-brokered ceasefire. The mass migration occurred despite an Israeli ban on travel in southern Lebanon except by aid agencies, but was isolated to areas around the port city of Tyre that are not under direct Israeli military control. Images broadcast on television networks showed massive traffic jams on main highways after Parliament Speaker Nabih Beri publicly urged "all those displaced to return home." Most returned to bombed out homes and neighborhoods that Israel says Hezbollah had used as cover. Beirut residents, meanwhile, cautioned against too hastily viewing the war as over. Michele Haddad, the manager of a clothes boutique in Beirut, told Reuters, "It won't last more than a week. Hezbollah won't easily give up weapons ... so anything can just spark a fire in the south and the whole area will blow up again." Rafik Khouri, editor of the al-Anwar newspaper, added, "These next few days are critical, it's very possible there will be violations to the (UN) decision. There can be ground battles in the south because the Israelis are still there and Hezbollah is still there and there are no international troops or Lebanese Army."
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