South Lebanon is skeptical of Israel’s agreement as violence continues

Amna Nawaz:

When Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with President Trump at the White House today, it was the first such visit by a Lebanese head of state in nearly two decades. This comes after Lebanon and Israel resumed diplomatic relations under the auspices of the Trump administration, and signed a tripartite agreement last month aimed at ending a long history of wars.

But, as special correspondent Simona Foltin reports from southern Lebanon, the deal faces stiff opposition.

Simona Foltin:

The Lebanese government has agreed to make peace with Israel, but there is little hope of achieving this here amid the ruins of a war that has not yet stopped.

We are now in Nabatieh, once a bustling commercial city, now destroyed by a punitive Israeli air campaign.

Muhammad Awada, Nabatieh, Lebanon, resident (through a translator):

The shops have all disappeared, and Nabatieh, as you can see, is mostly destroyed. With these strikes, we took us back 10, 15, 20 years to return Nabatieh to what it was before.

Simona Foltin:

Israeli forces occupied the hills southeast of Nabatieh. Even as talks with Israel continue, fear of renewed escalation still looms in the air.

With shovels and bare hands, Mohammed, his son Hadi, and his nephew try to save what’s left of their shop in the old market. Like much of the city, the Ottoman-era buildings are in ruins.

Hadi Mohamed, Nabatieh, Lebanon, resident (through translator):

Israel is criminals who love to destroy. They don’t want us to have a good country.

Simona Foltin:

Many here still support Hezbollah, despite the party’s decision to return to the regional war last March in support of its ally, Iran. Mohammed opposes Lebanon’s deal with Israel, which he considers a surrender to Israeli and American demands.

Muhammad Awada (through translator):

This agreement protects them more than it protects us. It is in their interest more than ours. They are playing games. Why didn’t they withdraw? What is their intention? Is it their intention to take over the south?

Simona Foltin:

Israel currently occupies a six-mile strip along its border with Lebanon, demarcated by a yellow line similar to the Gaza line. This region represents approximately 7 percent of Lebanon’s territory.

Under the agreement signed on June 26, the Lebanese government must first disarm Hezbollah, and only then will there be a “gradual redeployment” of Israeli forces. In Washington, the deal was hailed as a success.

Nada Hamada Moawad, Lebanese Ambassador to the United States: The tripartite framework that we signed today is a first step on the path to restoring Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, and enabling our people to return to their land.

Simona Foltin:

But there’s not much left to go back to. Israel continued to demolish border villages to create a population-free buffer zone. Human rights groups say such systematic demolitions could amount to war crimes.

Israeli attacks have killed dozens since the signing of the agreement, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. And Esperanza Ghandour, the beloved kindergarten director, is one of them. This is when the kindergarten celebrated Lebanese Army Day, and this is it during last year’s Christmas party.

She was killed on July 6 while making a quick trip to check on her home near Nabatieh. Her husband, Wissam Qanso, explains what happened.

Wissam Qansouh, husband of victim of the Israeli raid (through translator): Esperanza was driving the car. Her mother was by her side. The maid and the plumber were sitting in the back. The blow came from here, directly on my wife.

Simona Foltin:

None of the four occupants of the car survived. Given Israel’s advanced surveillance capabilities, Wissam finds it difficult to believe that the strike was a mistake.

Wissam Qanso (through a translator):

The Israeli enemy knows every needle on the ground. They know her car. They know her license plate number. They have phone numbers. They have all the information.

Simona Foltin:

Wissam feels that Lebanon’s deal with Israel came at the expense of justice for victims like his wife.

Wissam Qanso (through a translator):

We did not hear any condemnation of the killings, neither from the President of the Republic, nor from the Prime Minister, nor from any official in this government.

Simona Foltin:

To better understand why the school principal was targeted, we headed towards the site of the raid. Only a few cars make this perilous journey near the yellow line in Israel. In describing the incident, the Israeli army said that it hit a vehicle that was approaching what it calls a security zone, posing a threat to its forces.

This is where Esperanza Ghandour was hit by an Israeli drone as she was returning from her village away from the front line. So it is difficult to imagine how they could have been seen as a threat to the Israeli forces stationed there.

At the entrance to the village, surrounded by billboards bearing pictures of past and present Hezbollah leaders, we met the mayor of Nabatieh Al-Fawqa.

ZEIN GANDOUR, Mayor of Nabatieh El Fawqa, Lebanon (through translator): Her house is about 400 yards from here on the main road.

Simona Foltin:

Zein Ghandour believes that Esperanza’s killing was intentional.

Zein Ghandour (through translator):

It is clear that this is a message to every civilian who wants to go to this area that they will target him. She was not just a school principal. It was a symbol of patriotism, a symbol of resistance to occupation, and a symbol of dignity, steadfastness, and clinging to the land.

Simona Foltin:

The municipality has now erected a symbolic barrier to signal to civilians that it is not safe to proceed. Sometimes curious young men pass by on motorbikes. Hezbollah, like Israel, closely monitors this area.

The village is located at the foot of the strategic Ali al-Tahir mountain range, a besieged hilltop that the Israeli army has not yet been able to fully control.

Why have the people of Nabatieh Al-Fawqa not returned to their homes yet despite the ceasefire?

Zein Ghandour (through translator):

This is the crux of the matter. There is no occupation here, and people are supposed to return. But the Israeli enemy occupies these areas through the media and fire from the sky.

Simona Foltin:

The villages bordering the occupation zone have become a forbidden zone with no people and no state.

Zein Ghandour (through translator):

The Lebanese state must make the political decision for the Lebanese army to deploy in the heart of the entire village so that people feel safe in the presence of the state.

Simona Foltin:

We drove south to the village of Vron. It is located in one of two areas identified as so-called pilot areas. The Lebanese army is strengthening its presence here.

This is one of the new Lebanese Army sites established to implement the Framework Agreement between Israel and Lebanon and to ensure the disarmament of Hezbollah in areas not occupied by the Israeli Army. Once Israel is satisfied with this process, it must redeploy from Lebanese territory.

But the agreement does not mention the word withdrawal, nor does it specify a timetable for it, which raises fears of an indefinite Israeli occupation.

To people here, it seems as if Israel wants the Lebanese army to finish its mission and disarm Hezbollah in areas it cannot capture. The Israeli army is stationed on the other side of the valley, about 2.5 miles away.

Hassan Bazzi, Mayor of Faroun, Lebanon (via translator): They chose Faroun as an experimental area because of the stupidity of the Lebanese state.

Simona Foltin:

Hassan Bazzi is the mayor here.

Hassan Bazzi (through translator):

Israel is inside the yellow line, but they chose the areas adjacent to the yellow line, which Israel could not seize during the war, so they are trying to seize them during the ceasefire.

Simona Foltin:

The mayor says that there is no longer any Hezbollah military infrastructure in the village. But the group is deeply rooted in the social fabric of the South. Yellow Hezbollah flags are firmly planted in the rubble, a message that the party is here to stay, with or without weapons.

Posters thanking fighters for their sacrifices.

Zainab Shadi, Faroun, Lebanon, resident (through translator):

These guys protected us. If it were not for them, Israel would have captured Pharaoh and destroyed it like the other villages.

Simona Foltin:

Israeli raids destroyed more than 200 homes in this village alone, including Zainab’s house. This house belongs to one of her relatives.

Zainab Shahdi (through translator):

My house was destroyed. It was also destroyed during the 2006 war. Then we bought another piece of land and built another house. We were very happy. Then this war came and it was destroyed again.

Simona Foltin:

There is little left of the village due to this war, making it difficult to imagine how people could rebuild again. For many here, Lebanon’s agreement with Israel does not look like a path to peace, but rather like surrender.

On the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Simona Foltin from South Lebanon.