What Lebanese returnees are finding on the road home

Thousands of people are still making their way towards the south. The “yellow line” marks the border-adjacent areas like Shebaa and villages very close to the Blue Line that Israeli troops are not allowing anyone to reach.

But for now, people continue to return. You can hear them asking each other: “Is this village reachable? Can we get to this place?” The information coming out of the south is very limited and people are not sure.

Thousands and thousands have been crossing the Qasmiyeh Bridge over the last couple of days as the ceasefire has been holding, at least partially. The bridge was hit by Israel just before the ceasefire went into effect. The military and the Lebanese civil defence have filled the crater created by the missile strikes with dirt in a major operation to get traffic moving. Yesterday, it was only moving one way: Into the south. Now it is moving in both directions.

But this is just the beginning of these people’s journeys. They are going to face many challenges. One is the new tactical yellow line that Israel has set up about 3km (2 miles) into Lebanese territory. Israel has also issued its own evacuation warning, telling Lebanese citizens not to return south of the Zahrani River.

According to the United Nations, not everybody will be able to reach their homes just yet. They are looking at longer-term displacement, because there are still many dangers in the south: Unexploded ordnance, destroyed buildings that could cause injury to people digging through the rubble of their homes, and continued military activity.

- Al Jazeera