Lebanese return to villages ‘piloted’ says Israel never existed | Israel attacks Lebanon News

Southern Lebanon – Many refugees have begun to return to the villages of southern Lebanon, as Israel, Lebanon, and the United States announced on Monday that the so-called “pilot zone” has begun.

The zone control system is part of a framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel, signed in Washington last month. It will see Israel withdraw from a small swath of southern Lebanon, though it remains in some of the territory it has seized since it escalated its war in the country in March, killing more than 4,300 people.

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Israel has been fighting Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, which it insists must be disarmed before Israel can be completely withdrawn.

Al Jazeera spoke to residents of Froun and Ghandouriyeh, neighboring villages in southern Lebanon where people began to return on Monday after Israeli bombardment forced them to flee. The US said Froun was one of three villages that were part of the first phase of the pilot, while Ghandouriyeh is believed to be in the second phase.

However, some local people doubted that these villages are included in the plan, saying that they have never been occupied by Israeli forces. For them, the annexation of their villages is a proof that Israel is not giving up anything even after agreeing to the framework, and instead they are able to remain in the areas they have occupied.

Lebanese security sources confirm the story, telling Al Jazeera that the two villages have never been occupied by Israeli forces.

Located on the hills overlooking several Israeli-occupied towns in the Nabatieh and Marjayoun governorates, the two villages face the town of Zawtar el-Gharbiya, which is also the first phase of the plan.

The road connecting Ghandouriyeh and Froun is dangerous: The area overlooking the Hujeir valley always comes under Israeli fire, and the Israeli soldiers who are in Odaisseh al-Qusayr, Qantara, Alma ash-Shaab and elsewhere can keep an eye on anyone passing by.

However, many families did not wait for the results of the framework agreement and have begun to return slowly. They include the family of Abu Ali Miqdad, who has a heavy machine that allows them to start removing the debris from the house they own – which has apartments and a warehouse at the door of Froun – in order to save any materials that are left.

Abu Ali started the family business decades ago, before his sons and grandsons joined him. After many hours of work, they were able to pull the tires, oil drums and garbage.

Agowa says that he is not optimistic about the current situation, but says that he is tired of the constant migration. Seeing his grandchildren pulling an oil drum out of the rubble, he says he will continue to “remove the rubble and rebuild, even after being bombed”.

He says the presence of the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers comforts him despite the situation.

Anxiety

On the other side of the demolished building, one house survived the destruction. At his door sits a woman in her 70s, dressed in traditional southern Lebanese clothing, with her grandson by her side wearing a Spanish soccer jersey.

The Spanish army was patrolling the area facing Froun as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) deployed south of the Litani River, although its mission is expected to end at the end of the year according to a UN Security Council decision.

Despite the destruction around her, Sumaya Haidar says she is relieved to be back home, sitting next to her grandson – even though there is no running water, electricity or phone.

Like everyone else in Froun, he is worried about the future of the town. Sumaya’s anxiety also comes from the fact that her children’s families have been moved to different towns, leaving them unsettled.

“We rely on God,” says Sumaya. “We will stay here, we are not afraid, and we will stay. Look at these people – they are living in schools after losing their homes, and my children are scattered again.”

Governmental authority

Meanwhile, Lebanese army patrols have been visible for three days in the Ghandouriyeh area, with soldiers of the Fifth Intervention Regiment stationed at the southern entrance of the village.

Ghandouriyeh has suffered more damage than Froun: 250 of its 260 buildings have been completely or partially destroyed, according to the head of the municipal council, Mohammed Nader. Together with several members of the council, they have placed dilapidated chairs under the shade of a tree to hold their daily meetings.

Nader, who lived in Paraguay but returned to serve in his hometown, became angry when asked if the village would be included in the second phase of the pilot.

As for the Israeli site just a few kilometers away, he rejects the idea, saying that Israel wants to “sell us and the government empty peanut shells, and call it an airstrip, when they never entered in the first place”.

The military gave Al Jazeera permission to film its location in Ghandouriyeh and Froun twice, to confirm its control over the area and its designation as a military-controlled area. Military patrols were seen repeatedly walking along the line from Kfar Dounine to Froun via Ghandouriyeh, and checkpoints were seen where workers searched vehicles and checked the identities of people.

“Increasing government control” is expected top of the agenda while Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

For the Lebanese government, its presence in Froun and Ghandouriyeh is proof of that government’s authority, although Hezbollah continues to say that its weapons are necessary to fight Israel if the Lebanese army does not want to do so.