Israel-Hezbollah truce holds, displaced Lebanese begin to journey home

A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah held on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the U.S. and France as people in both countries began returning to homes in the border area shattered by 14 months of fighting.

The agreement, a rare diplomatic feat in a region racked by conflict, ended the deadliest confrontation between Israel and the Iran-backed group in years. But Israel is still fighting its other arch foe, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip.

Cars and vans piled high with mattresses, suitcases and even furniture streamed through the heavily bombed Lebanese port city of Tyre heading south, carrying some of the roughly 1.4 million people believed to have been uprooted by the conflict.

In the first statement by Hezbollah's operations center since the truce was announced, the group made no direct mention of the ceasefire and vowed to continue its resistance.

Hezbollah said its fighters "remain fully equipped to deal with the aspirations and assaults of the Israeli enemy" and its forces will monitor Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon "with their hands on the trigger."

The group has been weakened by casualties and the killing of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah by Israel.

The ceasefire aims to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border which the Lebanese Health Ministry says has killed at least 3,768 people in Lebanon since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the ceasefire was "the first ray of hope" in months of the Middle East conflict.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran welcomed the truce and hoped it would be permanent.

In Lebanon, some cars flew national flags, others honked, and one woman could be seen flashing the victory sign with her fingers as people started to return to homes they had fled.