Naqoura, southern Lebanon – Wearing an olive inexperienced jacket and denims, municipal head Abbas Awada stood subsequent to the stays of the household dwelling the place he lived along with his spouse and two kids for the final 15 years.
The soft-spoken, charismatic, 40-something Awada used to welcome city residents within the household dwelling and host huge household gatherings along with his spouse.
The home survived greater than a yr of conflict, together with a 66-day invasion, which noticed Israeli air raids destroy a lot of Lebanon’s infrastructure.
It was after a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah started in November that Israeli forces demolished the house the place Awada’s kids had grown up.
From the time Hezbollah and Israel started preventing on October 8, 2023, till a ceasefire started on November 27, 2024, Israel killed almost 4,000 individuals and left waves of devastation throughout Lebanon, significantly within the south.
And, regardless of the ceasefire, the Israeli army has continued to assault Lebanon.
A ‘ceasefire’ in identify solely?
In accordance with the ceasefire settlement, which was initially set to final 60 days, Hezbollah was speculated to retreat north of the Litani River, which runs throughout south Lebanon. Israel was additionally required to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have been to take over the south.
Many in Lebanon believed the ceasefire would convey an finish to Israeli assaults. However Israel has stored attacking, justifying its actions as attempting to “dismantle and destroy” Hezbollah, a self-declared intention.
Amongst its actions was intentionally destroying houses in southern villages like Naqoura, devastating individuals who fled the violence and have been hoping to return to their homes when it stopped.
“I nonetheless see it because it was,” Awada stated softly, his dwelling.
He pointed on the entrance and described the home’s structure. The place he stated the kitchen and eating room as soon as stood was a pile of concrete and metal – an Israeli bulldozer had toppled his dwelling’s partitions.
A tv nonetheless stood among the many wreckage, mounted on an uncovered lounge wall and riddled with bullet holes.
“They only needed to destroy,” he stated.
He has not taken his kids, aged 11 and 14, to see the ruins but.
Authorized Agenda, a Beirut-based nonprofit analysis and advocacy organisation, discovered that Israel dedicated greater than 855 ceasefire violations by late January.
Ameneh Mehvar, a Center East senior analyst for ACLED, an organisation that collects knowledge on battle, advised Al Jazeera that it had recorded “over 330 air strike and shelling incidents” because the ceasefire.
A withdrawal that wasn’t
Naqoura, which lies proper on the southern Lebanese border, had sustained severe injury throughout the conflict however had not been invaded by the point the ceasefire started.
In mid-December, Israeli troops entered Naqoura and experiences started to emerge that they have been destroying houses and buildings there and in different villages in south Lebanon.
The Israeli withdrawal was speculated to be accomplished by January 26. However regardless of rejections from Lebanon’s authorities, the Israelis introduced – with the backing of america – that their presence can be prolonged till February 18.
On Monday, Israel introduced it might “depart small quantities of troops deployed briefly in 5 strategic factors” in Lebanon.
The Israelis did withdraw from Naqoura in early January, permitting residents to see what was left of their village and houses after the random violence that befell them.
‘They used bulldozers for revenge’
On a winding road behind Naqoura’s municipality constructing, 75-year-old Ali Shaabi remains to be mourning his fruit timber and the deliberate injury that befell them.
He stepped nimbly over rubble to get to his backyard, explaining that he had not stopped watering his timber till he needed to evacuate.
“I didn’t depart them,” he stated, a cigarette and his yellow lighter by no means leaving his arms.
Plump grapefruits cling from one tree however a mango tree lies on the bottom close to it. It had been torn out of the bottom by Israeli troopers throughout the ceasefire, strategic goal unknown.
Standing on the entrance porch of the charred dwelling he used to dwell in along with his spouse, kids and grandchildren, he defined that it had been set on fireplace, with the upstairs now unreachable as a result of the steps had been destroyed.
Shaabi had stayed behind in the home when the remainder of his household fled to Tyre throughout the conflict. Civil defence staff lastly evacuated him final September when Israeli assaults on Lebanon intensified, and he went to affix his household.
His home was advantageous when he left it, he explains, and was broken solely throughout the ceasefire. Now the basement and higher flooring are charred, and all the construction needs to be supported by pylons.
“They obtained bulldozers,” he stated. “They got here into Naqoura with bulldozers, for revenge.”
The household had even discovered a few of their clothes shot to bits, presumably hung up by Israeli troopers and shot at.
Naqoura is a predominantly Shia city, a demographic amongst which Hezbollah historically enjoys an excessive amount of assist. In truth, Hezbollah flags have been planted within the rubble of a few of Naqoura’s destroyed buildings.
Regardless, the destruction of houses and civilian infrastructure is prohibited below worldwide legislation, and lots of Lebanese considered it as an indiscriminate punishment towards Shia communities throughout Lebanon.
“Not everyone seems to be Hezbollah,” Shaabi stated. “Shia are usually not all the time Hezbollah.”
‘I miss my village’
Getting information on whether or not your own home was nonetheless standing was troublesome throughout the conflict however some villagers, like Reem Taher, discovered the right way to pay for normal satellite tv for pc photographs of their neighbourhoods to see what was happening.
Earlier than the conflict, Taher ran a beautician enterprise however needed to flee to Tyre when the bombing started.
The pictures she was paying for confirmed her dwelling was intact, together with on November 26, the day earlier than the ceasefire.
However at 11am on November 27, she obtained yet one more report. After surviving a yr of Israeli air raids, her dwelling was now in ruins.
“They blew up my home, levelled my land, and even loved reducing down the timber,” she advised Al Jazeera within the dwelling she is renting in Tyre’s Hosh neighbourhood, an space that had additionally seen its justifiable share of destruction. The constructing throughout the street had been levelled.
“I miss having a espresso within the morning by the ocean. I miss our gatherings and evenings within the backyard. I miss the decision to prayer from my village, Ramadan nights … choosing clementines from the tree.
“I miss all the pieces about my village – the sundown, the pine timber, and the glint of the ocean from afar.”
‘This ceasefire is a lie’
On February 13, when Al Jazeera visited Naqoura, almost each dwelling was diminished to piles of wreckage and infrastructure lay in ruins.
Electrical energy poles had been pulled out of the bottom, the native faculty was pockmarked with bullet holes, and the carcasses of burned autos lay deserted.
“They destroyed the mosque, the cemetery, and the infrastructure – roads, water, electrical energy. Something that offered technique of livelihood, they destroyed,” Taher stated.
Some houses had been commandeered by Israeli troopers, who left them affected by meals packaging and provides introduced in from Israel.
The partitions have been lined in Hebrew writing, principally with shift schedules. However on one fridge, a soldier had left a message: “We got here to drive away the darkness.”
Sanad, Al Jazeera’s verification company, in contrast satellite tv for pc photographs from December 3, 2024, and January 19, 2025.
The pictures from December 3 present many constructions, together with Awada’s dwelling and the municipality constructing, with little seen injury.
The pictures from January 19 present destroyed constructions, amongst them Awada’s dwelling.
ACLED recorded 14 cases of the Israeli military finishing up managed explosions and bulldozing of houses in Naqoura between December 11, 2024 and January 6, 2025. In accordance with their knowledge, every incident concerned a couple of home.
Sitting on what remained of his porch, Shaabi chain-smoked, surrounded by his household – kids and grandchildren.
For a lot of in Naqoura, the promise of a ceasefire introduced hope for returning dwelling. They by no means thought that their houses can be broken or destroyed throughout the ceasefire.
In between puffs, Shaabi stated, “This ceasefire is a lie.”
