The U.S.-brokered cease-fire in Lebanon has failed to bring meaningful relief, as continued Israeli strikes and evacuation orders have driven mass displacement across large parts of the country and left civilians with little sense of safety or return.
Despite the truce announced on April 16 after weeks of fighting, violence between Israel and Hezbollah has continued almost daily, with both sides accusing the other of violating the agreement. What was meant to pause hostilities has instead coincided with an expanded Israeli military campaign that now stretches far beyond the original frontline.
Hundreds of thousands of people in southern Lebanon have been forced from their homes.
Shortly after the cease-fire was declared, Israeli forces published a map outlining a buffer zone of roughly 600 square kilometers, where ground troops remained and residents in 57 towns and villages were ordered to evacuate. Since then, the Israeli military has issued additional evacuation warnings covering more than 100 more communities and carried out hundreds of airstrikes well beyond that zone, according to a review of official statements.
Taken together, the occupied area and evacuation orders now span about 2,000 square kilometers, nearly a fifth of Lebanon. Much of it has become effectively inaccessible to civilians, according to local officials, aid workers and residents.
The scale of the restrictions marks one of the most extensive displacement waves in the country’s recent history.
The conflict is part of a wider regional war set off by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 incursion into southern Israel, which has since drawn in allied armed groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has framed its campaign as an effort to push back Iran-backed forces and establish buffer zones along its borders with Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.
On the ground, uncertainty over where strikes will land next has deepened fear among residents. Many say the shifting evacuation map makes it impossible to plan a return.
“There is no way we are coming back now,” said Iyad Watfi, a local official in Bazouriye, a town that once housed about 13,000 people. He said repeated strikes had destroyed dozens of buildings in a single night and left only a small fraction of residents behind, most now sheltering further north.
The latest phase of fighting escalated after March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with Iran during a period of heightened regional tension. Israel responded with a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, triggering a war that Lebanese authorities say has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
The Israel Defense Forces said its operations are aimed at Hezbollah targets embedded in civilian areas and rejected claims that its campaign is intended to force displacement. It described evacuation warnings as recommendations issued ahead of strikes to allow civilians to leave.
Hezbollah, which has continued launching drones and other attacks during the cease-fire period, has not responded to requests for comment. The group says it is acting in self-defense and denies placing military assets in civilian areas.
In multiple towns across the south, Reuters spoke with local officials who estimated that only a small share of residents remain. Many have fled toward coastal cities such as Tyre and Sidon or further north. In Srifa, local official Ali Nazzal said the village had been nearly emptied. “People’s nerves are shattered. They can’t take it anymore so they left,” he said. “The cease-fire is a lie.”
Israeli officials have said the buffer zone strategy is aimed at preventing cross-border attacks and securing northern Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to intensify strikes, and the military has expanded evacuation orders to new areas, including parts of southern Beirut.
Satellite data analyzed for Reuters also suggests long-term disruption. Measurements of nighttime lights show a sharp and sustained decline across southern Lebanon since the conflict began, indicating that large numbers of displaced residents have not returned even during the cease-fire period.
In several cases, residents who attempted to return were forced out again within days. Some villages inside the occupied zone have seen extensive destruction, with buildings demolished after Israeli officials pledged to eliminate infrastructure they say is used by Hezbollah.
Civilian accounts underscore the instability. In Qlaileh, Hawraa Yousef Ghadbouni said her family returned after the cease-fire only to flee again when renewed strikes hit nearby areas. “We want to return, even if we have to sleep on the ground,” she said. “What matters is going back. Life here is not sustainable.”
Further north in Bedias, medic Wael al-Amin described a sudden strike that killed his brother and injured his son while they were outside the home. “I thought, let them play,” he said, recalling the moment before the explosion.
Across Lebanon, the human toll continues to mount. Recent strikes have killed and injured civilians in multiple districts, including families fleeing south, children, aid workers and soldiers, according to Lebanese authorities. Residential buildings, roads and commercial areas have been repeatedly hit in southern, central and eastern parts of the country.
