“More than 8,00,000 people displaced by war in Lebanon have begun returning to their hometowns following a lull in violence amid the Israel-Hezbollah war,” the United Nations said.
The announcement late on Tuesday (August 4, 2026) came as Lebanon and Israel began a new round of U.S.-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at ending the fighting, which are scheduled to run until Thursday (August 6, 2026).
UN humanitarian agency the OCHA said “8,21,077 people had begun the return to their areas of origin as of July 30”, but added that more than 3,60,000 remained displaced, around 26,000 of them in government shelters.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider West Asia war in March by firing rockets at Israel in support of its backer Iran. Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people and displaced more than a million at the peak.
Violence has decreased since the signing in June of a preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement on the wider regional conflict, which includes a ceasefire in Lebanon, and following a U.S.-sponsored deal between Israel and Lebanon.
But Lebanon continues to report intermittent Israeli strikes and shelling, as well as detonations of explosives and demolitions in southern villages, with Israeli troops occupying a swathe of the area. – AFP
