Memories torn: Lebanon's displaced persons count their losses

Von WOM

In the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, many displaced people like Hussein Mallah set off in the early morning hours on Wednesday to return home. The Waffenstallt had had Just started and ended a two -month war. Mallah reported that he started repairing his house and business almost immediately.

The return to normality

"My 24-hour bakery will be open again tonight," said Mallah proudly on Friday. Behind him, five employees in the red and white uniforms of the bakery were busy with resorting the counters in the sales room. It was the third day of an increasingly Unsensus . The Israeli army had just issued a command that asked the Lebanese residents of the southernmost villages in the country not to return to their houses.

a fragile peace

The newly founded agreement is in an extremely fragile state. In the 60 days after the agreement, Israel plans to withdraw its troops, while the Lebanese army increases its presence in South Libanons to ensure that the Region remains free of Hezbollah weapons. However, the complete lack of trust between the two sides - which is officially considered an enemy states - makes the gradual implementation of the agreement fail at all times, since both sides already accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.

reports on injuries to the ceasefire

There are numerous reports on Israeli troops on Lebanese territory that shoot on humans and villages, while Israel claims that Hezbollah has reorganized. "I am optimistic," said Mallah and counted his prayer beads with one hand. "Even if the ceasefire breaks down, we just do everything again. That's how I grew up, and that's how I will always be. Nothing can break our minds."

life returns

The traffic has increased again on the Hadi Nasrallah Avenue in Beirut's capital, the main street in the southern suburbs, which is named after the son of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. This street runs through the dense urban area in which hardly any building has been spared from the damage that caused the nightly Israeli air strikes.

Here is Hezbollah's power center, in which around one million people live, most of whom have received the evacuation commands of Israel. Glass shards crunch under their feet, and rubble falls from above, while people eliminate the damage in their apartments and throw rubble of balconies. A group forms around a pickup that is loaded with speakers from which Hezbollah hymns penetrate. Some people carry posters from Nasrallah, which was killed in a massive Israeli air raid a little more than two months ago and is still pending.

The spirit remains unbroken

The mood is serious, but defiant. The leaders of Hezbollah seem to hope for a repetition of 2006 when the passionate Nasrallah addressed great crowds with rousing speeches and a ceasefire with the formidable Israeli military was accepted as a "divine victory" by the Hezbollah supporters. On Friday, Nasrallah's successor, Secretary General Naim Qassem, used similar words. "We are victorious because we have prevented the enemy from destroying Hezbollah," said Qassem, the long -time deputy Nasrallah, does not have the charismatic presence of his predecessor. "This is a victory because the resistance has been withstanding and continues to withstand."

comparisons and differences

There are several parallels between the two comprehensive wars that raged between Hezbollah and Israel. The same agreement that ended the war from 2006 was used by Lebanese officials to achieve an armistice more than two decades later. Like in 2006, the current Israeli guides swore to destroy Hezbollah failed. And the current stream of displaced persons who return to their damaged and destroyed cities and quarters reflects the emotional scenes after the previous war.

a weakened Hezbollah

The differences are also clear. Israel has decimated the highest military leaders of Hezbollah, and Nasrallah's absence is painful. Hezbollah has also made significant concessions and withdrawn a promise to stop the rocket attacks on Israel's northeastern territory only after Israel ended Ovenset against Gaza. Hezbollah also approved a strict enforcement of the 2006 Agreement, which predicted that its armed forces retire to about 40 kilometers from the border between Israel and Lebanon.

homemade problems

But problems brew together inside Lebanon. Within the country, there are widespread belief that Hezbollah from this war emerged weakened, which could break up long -lasting internal tensions. Nevertheless, Hezbollah's strong supporting base consoles themselves by remembering that it could have been getting worse and that they did not experience the fate of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. They also argue that the militant group, equipped with ballistic and medium-length rockets, is one of the best armed non-state actors in the world.

The return home

"The war was longer than we had hoped, but in the end we were victorious, and that counts the most," said 25-year-old Marwa from her badly damaged home in the southern suburbs of Beirut. She said that after two months of displacement she returned to her house without knowing how extensive the damage would be. "I couldn't even tell you how difficult it was to see my home full of broken glass and find my memories tattered," she said and her eyes filled with tears.

"When we came home first, we were shocked ... Hardly anything was unaffected," she said, while the tears were in her eyes. "I was hoping to be able to return after all this time. And then I found that I couldn't stay ... but that's okay. They are all material things. They can all be replaced."

The fate of others

others are less lucky. Umm Hussein, 41 years old, stayed while watching the returnees on the television. In contrast to most displaced people, she had already seen photos of her house in the south of Beirut. An Israeli air raid had destroyed it.

"During this war I was patient with my expulsion," said Umm Hussein a day when the ceasefire came into force. "But today I see these scenes and feel like a prisoner."