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PERSONAL STORY: 'My heart is in a state of longing,' says displaced Lebanese as she heads home

Lebanese displaced by months of war between Israel and Hezbollah drove back to southern Lebanon on Tuesday (June 16) following a U.S.-Iran deal to end the wider conflict.

Jihed Abidellaoui

Emilie Madi

Reuters

16 June 2026 at 20:26:44

PERSONAL STORY: 'My heart is in a state of longing,' says displaced Lebanese as she heads home

Heavy machinery works amid rubble of destroyed buildings in Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, Tyre district, southern Lebanon, June 15, 2026.

Aziz Taher/Reuters

Lebanese displaced by months of war between Israel and Hezbollah drove back to southern Lebanon on Tuesday (June 16) following a U.S.-Iran deal to end the wider conflict.


"My heart is in a state of longing until I reach my house and see my house," said Jamila Matar, as she and her family were on the way, with belongings on top of their vehicle. 


 Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon eased significantly on Monday (June 15) but did not halt completely despite the U.S.-Iran deal, with one person killed in an Israeli strike, underscoring the fragility of the truce.


 Lebanon has suffered the deadliest spillover of the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, with nearly 3,800 people killed and some 1.2 million people uprooted by an Israeli offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which opened fire on Israel in support of Tehran on March 2. A halt to the fighting there is key to the broader agreement, with Tehran having pushed for a Lebanon ceasefire to be included.


 Iran has said the deal requires a full cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would keep its forces in southern Lebanon and would retain the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.


 A U.S. official said an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon was not a condition of the deal.


-Production: Jihed Abidellaoui, Emilie Madi/Reuters

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