BBCA family of four children stood in the middle of the street in front of a pile of twisted metal and broken concrete, struggling to comprehend the damage they were seeing.
The building had been destroyed by a recent Israeli air strike and smoke was still rising from the rubble. The next building on the right was partially destroyed; the one behind it had a big hole at the top.
They continued walking to the building where they lived, in Tire in southern Lebanon. The displaced family was back, hours after the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect. There seemed to be no one in their house.
Since there was no electricity, they took the stairs to the sixth floor, with the help of flashlights on their phones.
Mohamad Marouf led his wife and two sons. He tried to open the main door. When he finally arrived, he quickly realized that his home as he knew it was gone.
“I am very sad, it is a beautiful and respectable house,” said Mr. Marouf, a car dealer. “There’s just a lot of damage.”
Panels had fallen from the ceiling. Windows, doors and furniture were destroyed. In the kitchen, cups and plates lie broken on the floor. There was dust and debris everywhere. Room by room, he mourned the things that could no longer be fixed, and celebrated those that had somehow not changed.
The destruction, said Mr Marouf, was caused by an attack on a nearby building. It was so strong that his building, too, was badly damaged.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said. They were staying with their brother, and they didn’t know when they would go back.
On the beach front of Tire, a yellow banner with Hezbollah’s logo was placed next to one of the many buildings that were hit. It said, “Made in USA”, referring to the bombs that may have been used in the attack.
As the fighting subsided, residents returned to their heavily damaged homes. Throughout the day of Wednesday, cars came full of families, bags and mattresses.
Some people wave Hezbollah flags; In the distance, the sound of unusual gunfire could be heard. Many supporters say that the suspension of the party is a sign of victory for the party. The “resistance”, as they often refer to Hezbollah, stopped the Israeli army’s attacks on the ground, they argue, and Israel failed to achieve its goals in Lebanon.
A narrative that will find very little – if any – support elsewhere.
Hezbollah is weakened, large parts of the country are in ruins, and many, including those who accused the group of dragging Lebanon into a conflict that was not in its interests, say the war has led to death and destruction.
About 4,000 people died and more than 16,000 were injured, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The conflict began last October when Iran-backed Hezbollah began shelling Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza, and escalated in September, with Israeli airstrikes, the killing of several top Hezbollah leaders including long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah, and attacks of the world in the south.
Israel’s goal was to remove the group from the border and allow the return of approximately 60,000 exiled citizens.
Israel’s bombings were mainly concentrated on Shia Muslim areas in the country where Hezbollah controlled. More than a million people were forced to leave their homes.
There has been a 60-day pause now as part of a ceasefire agreement, which many hope will end the conflict. Under its terms Israel and Hezbollah will withdraw from the south, Hezbollah’s traditional stronghold, and the Lebanese army will send an additional 5,000 troops to the area.
In the morning, Hezbollah organized a trip for journalists to show the damage around Tyre, a sign that they are still very much there – and in control – here.
“We are not failing,” said Hussein Jashi, a Hezbollah member of parliament, of the rubble of a water pumping station destroyed in an airstrike.
“All this destruction means nothing if you have pride and dignity. This [destruction] it does not defeat a person as long as a person is willing to fight.”
One of the stops on this tour was Deed Badawi’s restaurant, which opened more than 80 years ago.
“They tear it down, we build it again. It was a great restaurant, and I really like it,” he said. I will rebuild it to be even better than it was.
Next door, Mr Yaser, who did not want to give his full name, was cleaning his corner shop, which had reopened for the first time.
“I’m in a bad mood. You cannot explain the damage and the loss of people,” he said.
“This is not the Tire we know. We have lost so many loved ones. But now we will meet those who are still alive, we will wait and see what will happen next.”
Recovery will be difficult, and expensive. No one knows how it will happen, and who will pay.
Mr Marouf, a car dealer, was expecting Hezbollah to help him repair the damage. “May God protect us all,” he said.
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