'You've arrived safely, thank God' Lebanese return home - to find towns turned to rubble

Before the ceasefire had even come into effect, Zeinab and Dina were already driving south. The two sisters had been forced to flee to Tripoli, northern Lebanon, for 64 days – they had counted – and they could not bear another day without seeing home.

- William Christou

Before the ceasefire had even come into effect, Zeinab and Dina were already driving south. The two sisters had been forced to flee to Tripoli, northern Lebanon, for 64 days – they had counted – and they could not bear another day without seeing home.

"We were laughing and crying at the same time when we heard the news of the ceasefire. We were packing our stuff and still we didn't believe it was happening; it was like a dream," said Zeinab, 28, a resident of the town of Zibqin in south Lebanon. She and Dina joined tens of thousands of Lebanese yesterday after the ceasefire came into effect, ending more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel's military warned residents not to return south, sending prerecorded messages across Lebanon with a reminder that, despite the ceasefire, south Lebanon was still a military zone. Israeli warnings were cast aside and Lebanon's coastal road was soon backed up, jammed with mattress-laden cars, families sitting two to a seat. People lined the highway, waving flags and cheering on the cars returning south.

"You've arrived safely, thank God," Lebanese soldiers and paramedics said, greeting people as they entered Tyre's city limits.