BEIRUT: A ceasefire largely held in Lebanon on Monday as the country experienced the longest lull yet in three months of war between Hezbollah and Israel, even as fear of renewed hostilities kept displaced people from going home.
A senior Lebanese security official said that adherence to the ceasefire had been “almost total” since Saturday evening, though the official said an Israeli tank fired shells towards a village near Tyre and Israeli forces fired sound grenades in two other locations on Monday. An Israeli drone buzzed over Beirut.
The war has tested the interim US-Iran deal on ending the regional conflict, leading Tehran to announce at the weekend it had once more closed the Strait of Hormuz, saying the US had failed to meet its commitment to halt the fighting in Lebanon.
US Vice President JD Vance, who led Washington’s delegation to a first round of talks with Iran aimed at reaching a final peace deal, said on Monday that progress had been made towards ending hostilities in Lebanon, and that the Strait was open.
He said Lebanon was a work in progress.
Hassan Wazni, director of a hospital in Nabatieh - a city in the south that has been heavily bombarded during the conflict - said there had been calm since Saturday evening.
“I’m monitoring the situation day by day, and most of the time I’m sleeping in the hospital. This is the longest a ceasefire has held,” he told Reuters by phone.
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