Hezbollah continues to resist the Israeli invasion while Lebanon's official leadership moves towards negotiations with Israel, exposing two sharply opposed visions within the country.
Despite the 10-day ceasefire that came into effect on 16 April, Israeli forces have continued their operations, with Hezbollah maintaining its retaliation. Thirty-seven Israeli soldiers were wounded in 24 hours, and two were killed.
Israeli troops have drawn what they call a "yellow line" - described as a forward defensive perimeter - stretching from the Bekaa Valley to the coast and extending into Lebanese territorial waters. Within this buffer zone, which includes around 55 towns and villages, a systematic campaign of destruction is underway.
Over the weekend of 18-19 April, blasts from controlled demolitions echoed across southern Lebanon as dozens of military and privately contracted bulldozers razed entire neighbourhoods.
Amid this climate of insecurity, Hezbollah and the Lebanese army urged residents who had returned home after the announcement of the temporary ceasefire to leave again after checking their property. Heavy traffic was reported on roads heading north.
The ceasefire agreement, published by the US State Department, appears heavily skewed in Israel's favour. It provides for a 10-day halt to hostilities, which began at midnight on 16 April.
The text stipulates that Israel "shall preserve its right to take all necessary measures in self-defence, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks", and that this right "shall not be impeded by the cessation of hostilities".
Lebanon's right to self-defence is not mentioned anywhere - a notable departure from the November 2024 agreement.
No document was submitted to the Lebanese Council of Ministers for review. Several sources in Beirut say the country's leadership was not informed of the content and was presented with a fait accompli.
The announcement has triggered strong political backlash across Lebanon, with rival camps scrambling to claim ownership of the ceasefire.
Despite the scale of the damage...Lebanon's leadership has not shifted course
The stakes are high. The official leadership, led by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, has clearly opted to align Lebanon with US policy, seeking above all to deny Iran - and by extension Hezbollah - any diplomatic or military credit.
Iran, however, had explicitly set a ceasefire in Lebanon as a precondition for entering into renewed talks with the US in Islamabad.
"The resistance of Hezbollah to the Israeli invasion is probably one of the factors that accelerated the ceasefire," said Qassem Qassir, a Lebanese researcher specialising in Islamist movements.
He added: "Iran also played a role in halting the hostilities, even if the Lebanese government and the United States do not want to credit the Islamic Republic with this outcome."
It is precisely to avoid such attribution that US President Donald Trump himself announced the ceasefire and informed Aoun in a phone call on 16 April.
"The mere fact that Hezbollah accepted a ceasefire despite its reservations, and while some clauses of the agreement are unfavourable to it and benefit Israel, indicates that Iran had weight in the negotiations," said Lebanese journalist and writer Sami Kleib.
Despite the scale of the damage - more than one million displaced, nearly 5.8 percent of national territory occupied, and around 50 towns and villages systematically destroyed - Lebanon's leadership has not shifted course.
Instead, it has pressed ahead, opting for direct negotiations with Israel while increasing pressure on Hezbollah.
That pressure peaked on 2 March, just hours after the outbreak of the war, when the government, convened in emergency session by Prime Minister Salam, declared illegal Hezbollah's military activities.
