The latest ceasefire, which took effect amid broader diplomatic efforts involving the United States and Iran, has brought a relative lull to the southern Lebanese city. However, many residents remain reluctant to return to normal routines, citing fears that fighting could resume as previous truce agreements have repeatedly collapsed.

The conflict, which intensified in March after Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel during a wider regional confrontation involving Iran, has killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities. Israeli military operations have also pushed deep into southern Lebanon, leaving extensive destruction across the region.

Tyre, one of Lebanon’s oldest cities and a major summer tourism destination, has been among the areas heavily affected. Businesses that normally depend on seasonal visitors report little activity, while public spaces and parking areas have been occupied by displaced families who fled nearby towns and villages.

Residents say uncertainty continues to dominate daily life despite the reduction in visible fighting. Many displaced people have delayed returning to their homes, particularly in communities that suffered extensive damage during the conflict.

The city’s cultural heritage has also sustained damage. Several structures near Tyre’s renowned archaeological complex were struck during the air campaign, affecting areas adjacent to Roman-era monuments and historical sites that form part of a UNESCO-recognized heritage zone. Lebanese antiquities officials said assessments are expected to determine the extent of the damage and the scope of restoration work required.

Environmental concerns have also emerged along the southern coastline. Areas near the Mansouri coastal reserve, known for its sea turtle habitats and biodiversity, have become inaccessible following military activity and bombardment.

Healthcare facilities in Tyre have likewise faced disruptions. Medical workers at one of the city’s largest hospitals said nearby airstrikes damaged parts of the facility, shattered windows and doors, and raised concerns about the safety of medical personnel operating in active conflict zones.

Doctors and nurses who have worked through previous wars in southern Lebanon said the proximity of recent strikes to hospitals marked a significant escalation in the risks faced by healthcare workers.

The ceasefire has eased immediate security concerns, but signs of continuing military tension remain visible across southern Lebanon. Israeli forces continue to maintain positions in areas near the border, while periodic military activity has been reported south of Tyre.

Diplomatic discussions between Lebanon and Israel are continuing with international mediation, though Hezbollah has rejected calls for disarmament and remains outside the formal negotiation process.

For many residents, the destruction left behind by months of fighting has underscored the uncertainty surrounding the region’s future, even as diplomatic efforts seek to prevent a return to large-scale conflict.

The Israeli military said the Wednesday strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed the commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force unit, escalating tensions despite a truce that began on April 17 and was intended to halt weeks of cross-border fighting.

Lebanese state media reported renewed Israeli strikes on several towns and villages in southern Lebanon on Thursday, while the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for residents in three villages north of the Litani River, beyond areas occupied by Israeli ground forces.

In the southern city of Nabatieh, strikes hit a shopping center and nearby residential buildings, according to Lebanese state media and an AFP correspondent at the scene.Airstrikes also targeted the nearby village of Toul, where two emergency responders affiliated with Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Committee were wounded while responding to an earlier strike, spokesperson Mahmoud Karaki said.

Karaki said the team’s ambulance sustained heavy damage in the attack.Photographs from Beirut’s southern suburbs showed upper floors of a residential building destroyed, with rescue teams continuing search operations through the debris on Thursday morning.

Despite the strike on its stronghold near the Lebanese capital, Hezbollah has not announced retaliatory action.The Israeli military separately said four Israeli soldiers were wounded on Wednesday, one seriously, after what it described as an “explosive drone impact” in southern Lebanon.

Although the ceasefire formally halted major hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, exchanges of fire and Israeli airstrikes have continued in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah has periodically claimed attacks against Israeli forces stationed in border areas.

The conflict intensified after fighting erupted on March 2, drawing Lebanon deeper into regional tensions linked to the broader confrontation involving Iran and its allied groups.According to Lebanese authorities, more than 2,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since the conflict began.

Israel’s military says 17 soldiers and one civilian contractor have died during operations in southern Lebanon.

Among them is Rabih Khreiss, a 45-year-old mechanic and father of nine from the southern town of Khiyam, who now lives in a makeshift tent on Beirut’s waterfront after fleeing with his family in the early hours of March 2, when Hezbollah launched attacks into Israel and Israeli retaliatory strikes began almost immediately.

Khreiss, who once supported his family through a car repair workshop in southern Lebanon, now relies on donations for survival and says the uncertainty has left him feeling trapped.“I feel like my children and I are prisoners in a room, sentenced to life imprisonment,” he said.

“But when will relief come so we can get out of this life sentence? No one knows.”His family now lives in a fragile shelter built from wooden beams and plastic tarps that shake in the wind. Without showers, they bathe in plastic tubs and wash clothes by hand. His older sister, who is living with them, is battling cancer and struggles to access medical care.

“We’re living in tents, not knowing where these days will take us,” he said. “We start thinking, if only we could wake up and win the lottery so we could get out of this mess.”Although a ceasefire brokered by the United States was intended to reduce hostilities, Israeli forces have continued airstrikes and maintained troops in a strip of southern Lebanon, where they say Hezbollah infrastructure remains active.

That includes near-daily controlled demolitions in Khiyam, a town once home to around 10,000 residents and now described by locals as almost entirely flattened and deserted.Hezbollah has also continued attacks against Israeli forces inside Lebanon and on northern Israel, while both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire terms.

The prolonged conflict has deepened despair among Lebanon’s estimated 1.2 million displaced people, many of whom had hoped the truce would allow them to return home but now face indefinite displacement.“Khiyam is my town, my region, my land, my home, my work, my people, my loved ones, everything,” Khreiss said. “Of course, all my memories are in Khiyam.

I miss everything about it.”The family has already endured repeated cycles of conflict. During the previous Hezbollah-Israel war in 2024, one of Khreiss’s older sons lost an eye when an Israeli strike hit their home in Khiyam.Khreiss said he pulled his children from the rubble with his own hands and felt he had aged “years” in a single hour.

His garage was also damaged during that war, but he rebuilt and returned. This time, he does not know whether either his workshop or his home still stands.With no steady income and rising anxiety over his children’s future, he says he is considering selling his car if he cannot find work soon.

“It’s showing in my children that they’ve never known joy or happiness, never been to an amusement park, never had fun like other children,” he said.“I brought them into this world, and I have to take responsibility for them and secure their future.

But circumstances have forced me to do nothing for them. There’s nothing I can do.”