TEHRAN – Some residents of southern Lebanon have begun returning to their homes following the announcement of an MOU between the U.S. and Iran, which includes ending the Zionist regime’s aggression in Lebanon.
Families returning to southern Lebanese towns witnessed first-hand the widespread destruction caused by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), which failed to achieve its war objective of degrading Hezbollah’s military prowess, despite the heavy and indiscriminate aggression.
Hezbollah has urged residents returning to their homes to remain cautious and follow the guidance of local authorities, as the threat posed by the regime’s continued illegal presence on Lebanese territory remains.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson has said there had been fewer clashes between Hezbollah and the IOF.
According to Stephane Dujarric, UN peacekeepers reported on Monday that from midnight to 4 pm local time, they saw a decrease in violence and exchanges of fire, “recording 133 trajectories of projectiles and two airstrikes attributed to the IDF (the Israeli Occupation Forces).”
“No trajectories from Hezbollah were reported during that time,” Dujarric stated in reference to Hezbollah strikes on northern settlements.
An agreement was reached on an MOU between Iran and the United States, mediated by Pakistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that “the two sides announced an immediate and permanent halt to military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, while discussing several provisions included in the memorandum, confirmed that ending the aggression in Lebanon is an integral part of this understanding.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has credited the memorandum of understanding as positive while avoiding direct praise of Iran or, according to reports, even mentioning it by name. The Prime Minister’s government has insisted on continuing its engagement in U.S.-sponsored direct talks with the Zionist regime aimed at halting the U.S.-backed aggression in Lebanon. This strategy has been condemned by critics who argue that it has instead emboldened the regime to further expand its aggression.
In a statement, the Lebanese resistance movement congratulated “the Islamic Republic of Iran, its leadership and people, on the great achievement of reaching the Memorandum of Understanding with the United States of America, which has resulted in a comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon.”
It emphasized that the Zionist regime “must understand that there will be no return to the situation that existed before the 2nd of March, and that the Resistance, which has always been and remains the vigilant guardian of the homeland and its people, will never accept any aggression that violates the sovereignty of its country or sheds the blood of its people.”
Zionist lobby groups, which hold significant influence on U.S. decision-making in Washington, have been strongly advocating for Lebanon to stay out of the MOU between Iran and the United States, which reports indicate will be signed on Friday. AIPAC in particular has been notably outspoken, stating that the MOU should preserve the Zionist regime’s ability to carry out its aggression in Lebanon.
However, Hezbollah has warned that “the Resistance will remain committed to Lebanon’s legitimate and unwavering right to defend its land, people, and sovereignty until full withdrawal is achieved and the prisoners return.”
Staying true to its promise, Hezbollah confronted the occupying forces that the IOF had regrouped in the crossing area on the outskirts of the southern town of Kafr Tibnit. The force consisted of five Merkava tanks and four armored vehicles.
The Lebanese resistance movement attacked the force with rocket barrages and artillery shells, amid sustained clashes.
Hezbollah resistance fighters also confronted an IOF unit comprising a bulldozer and two Merkava tanks after detecting them advancing from the Hima Arnoun – Al-Kammasheh area toward the crossing zone on the outskirts of Kafr Tibnit. In this confrontation, the Lebanese resistance fighters used guided missiles and loitering Ababil drones, which forced the IOF to retreat.
The resistance movement clarified that this operation is in defense of Lebanon and its people, based on the legitimate right to resist occupation and liberate land, and in response to the IOF’s violation of the ceasefire. Hezbollah’s military media released footage documenting its targeting of an IOF Merkava tank on the southern outskirts of the eastern town of Zawtar, south of Lebanon, using a FPV Ababil drone.
Through midnight between Monday and Tuesday, the Zionist regime’s health ministry stated in its daily statistical report that the total number of casualties admitted to hospitals since the beginning of the unprovoked joint war with the United States against Iran on February 28 had reached 9,209.
It also noted that 1,310 casualties among IOF soldiers had been recorded in hospitals from the “northern front” alone, after the ceasefire with Iran took effect.
The number of casualties recorded since the so-called “ceasefire” with Lebanon came into effect on April 16 has reached 892 IOF soldiers. The data does not differentiate between occupying troops sustaining casualties in Lebanon or northern settlements.
Reports and video documentation indicate the vast majority of these casualties resulted from attacks carried out by Hezbollah against the IOF in southern Lebanon, in response to violations of the ceasefire from the first day, including shelling southern villages and towns and attempting to force residents to evacuate.
Hezbollah emphasized that what has been achieved is “a prelude to completing the full liberation of our land, the return of our prisoners to their homeland and families, the return of all residents, especially those from front-line confrontation villages, to their towns and homes, and the reconstruction of what the aggression destroyed.”
Since March 2, 2026, Hezbollah has been waging retaliatory operations against the IOF in southern Lebanon and against IOF targets in occupied territories, inflicting human and material losses on the occupation regime, notably using FPV explosive-laden drones for which the IOF has found no effective solution.
A senior Israeli official admitted to Hebrew news outlet i24 that if the regime had known that the unprovoked “war would end this way, from a political standpoint, it certainly might not have been worth fighting.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that “the recent attack on Beirut’s southern suburb was carried out on the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz,” despite warnings from the regime’s military leaders about the possibility of an Iranian ballistic missile response.
In a sign of infighting between the regime’s military and political leaders, the newspaper, further citing informed sources, said several senior military officials proposed delaying the attack by a day or two.
The paper said the military officials hoped that a U.S.-Iranian agreement might materialize during that time, potentially making the attack impossible, or that “Katz and Netanyahu would calm down.” The sources indicated that the objections of senior military officials were related to the timing, as the region was awaiting the signing of a U.S.-Iranian agreement as well as Iran’s retaliation.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: tehrantimes.com
