Southern Lebanon – The Lebanese army has entered Zawtar al-Gharbiya, one of the three towns it is expected to take control of in the first phase of a “pilot zone” project that’s part of a larger framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel signed in Washington, DC, last month.

Dozens of displaced residents had on Monday begun to return to villages in southern Lebanon after Israel, Lebanon and the United States announced on Monday a “pilot zone” project had begun.

On Tuesday morning, the Lebanese army confirmed that it had deployed soldiers to Zawtar al-Gharbiya. Under the framework agreement, Israel will withdraw from a small number of areas in southern Lebanon, even as it remains in others it has invaded since escalating its war on the country in March, killing more than 4,300 people.

Israel has been fighting the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which it insists must be disarmed before a full Israeli withdrawal takes place.

In the places where Israel withdraws its forces, the Lebanese military is to move in to provide security, according to the framework agreement.

Global News Insight spoke to people in Froun and Ghandouriyeh, neighbouring villages in southern Lebanon to which residents began returning on Monday after Israeli bombardment forced them to flee. The US said Froun was one of three villages that were part of the first phase of the pilot zone plan while Ghandouriyeh is believed to be in the second phase.

However, some locals have questioned the villages’ inclusion in the plan, saying they were never occupied by Israeli forces. To them, the inclusion of their villages is evidence that Israel is in fact not giving anything up despite the framework agreement and is instead able to remain in the areas it has occupied.

Lebanese security sources back up that narrative, telling Global News Insight that the two villages had not been occupied by Israeli forces.

Perched on hills overlooking several Israeli-occupied towns in the Nabatieh and Marjayoun districts, the two villages face the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya.

The road connecting Ghandouriyeh and Froun is fraught with danger: Its stretches overlooking the Hujeir Valley continuously come under Israeli fire, and occupying Israeli forces stationed in Odaisseh al-Qusayr, Qantara, Alma ash-Shaab and elsewhere can monitor anyone passing through.

Still, many families have not waited for the outcome of the framework agreement and have begun gradually returning. They include the family of Abu Ali Miqdad, who owns heavy machinery that allowed them to start clearing the rubble of a building they own that contains apartments and storage warehouses at the entrance to Froun in an effort to salvage whatever materials remain.

Abu Ali founded the family business decades ago before his sons and grandsons joined him. After hours of work, they managed to pull tyres, oil drums and spare parts from the debris.

The grandfather showed little optimism about the current situation but said he has grown weary of constant displacement. Watching his grandchildren haul an oil drum from the rubble, he says he will keep “clearing the rubble and rebuilding, even under bombardment”.

He said the presence of the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeeping patrols brings him some comfort despite the circumstances.

Residents’ anxiety

Across from Abu Ali’s demolished house, one home did survive the destruction. On its doorstep sits a woman in her 70s, dressed in traditional southern Lebanese attire with her grandson beside her wearing a Spain national football team jersey.

Spanish soldiers had been patrolling the area opposite Froun as part of the UN peacekeeping force deployed south of the Litani River although its mission is set to end by year’s end under a UN Security Council resolution.

Despite the destruction around her, Sumaya Haidar said she is relieved to be back home, sitting beside her grandson, even though there is no water, electricity or phone service.

Like everyone else in Froun, she is anxious about the town’s fate. Sumaya’s worry also stems from the continued displacement of her children’s families to different towns.

“We put our trust in God,” Sumaya said. “We sit here. We’re not afraid, and we’ll stay. Look at these people, living in schools after losing their homes, and my children are scattered too.”

State authority

Meanwhile, Lebanese army patrols have been visible for three days in the area of Ghandouriyeh with soldiers from the Fifth Intervention Regiment standing at the village’s southern entrance.

Ghandouriyeh has suffered even more destruction than Froun: 250 of its 260 homes are destroyed or damaged, according to municipal council head Mohammed Nader. Along with several other council members, he has set up damaged chairs under the shade of a tree for their daily meetings.

Nader, who used to live in Paraguay but returned to serve his small hometown, grows visibly angry when asked whether the village might be included in the second phase of the pilot zones.

Pointing towards the Israeli position just a few kilometres away, he rejects the idea outright, saying Israel wants “to sell us and the state empty walnut shells, calling it a pilot zone, when they never even entered it in the first place”.

The army granted Global News Insight permission to film its positions in Ghandouriyeh and Froun twice to affirm its control over the area and its designation as a zone under military oversight. Army patrols were seen repeatedly moving along the line stretching from Kfar Dounine to Froun via Ghandouriyeh, and a checkpoint was observed where service members searched vehicles and checked residents’ identification.

“Extending state authority” is expected to top the agenda when Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

For the Lebanese government, its presence in Froun and Ghandouriyeh is evidence of that state authority, even if Hezbollah continues to insist that its weapons are necessary to confront Israel if the Lebanese army is not willing to do so.