Six months after a ceasefire, more than 340,000 Lebanese still can't go home

BEIRUT — Six months after a ceasefire was meant to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon still cannot return to their homes, according to aid groups and Lebanese officials.

More than one million people fled their homes after fighting escalated in March. About 864,000 have since gone back, but more than 341,000 remain displaced, and over 16,000 are still living in crowded collective shelters. Lebanese authorities say more than 4,300 people have been killed since March.

Why people can't return

The truce agreed in April and renewed in June has not stopped Israeli strikes. Israeli forces remain in roughly 68 towns and villages in the south, beyond a boundary known as the yellow line, and two dozen villages have been flattened. Farmland has burned, water wells sit in areas held by Israeli troops, and local courts and businesses are closed.

Even families who made it home face damaged houses and shortages; about 150,000 people lack running water. Those still displaced pay high rents in cities farther north.

Paying for recovery

Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri said it is unclear who will be able to return and when. He said the government needs about $1 billion to begin recovery, and that the money depends on both an Israeli withdrawal and international support. U.S. officials have said they back a three-way agreement on Lebanon's border.