A video from southern Lebanon shows residents celebrating on Wednesday evening as a Lebanese regiment arrives in a village on the first day of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.
Residents of the Christian majority town of Qlayaa in Marjayoun district gave the Lebanese military convoy a jubilant welcome, as seen in a video geolocated by CNN.
The footage shows them throwing rice in the air — a gesture of celebration and respect — as the convoy drives past a statue in the town square. Soldiers driving the vehicles wave to the crowds.
The celebratory scenes come after Israel and Hezbollah on Tuesday agreed to a ceasefire after more than a year of cross-border strikes and months of a full-scale war that has killed thousands.
Since the truce became effective Wednesday morning, thousands of Lebanese have begun returning to their homes in the south.
The ceasefire agreement stipulates that Israel must withdraw all its forces from southern Lebanon, and that the only armed groups present south of the Litani River should be the Lebanese military and United Nations peacekeeping forces. Under the terms of the agreement, Lebanon’s military has since begun to ramp up its presence in the south.
