More than 800,000 displaced Lebanese have begun returning home, UN says

The UN reports that over 800,000 displaced Lebanese have started returning home amid a lull in the Israel-Hezbollah war, while talks in Rome aim to end the conflict. OCHA cites 821,077 returnees as of July 30, with 360,000 still displaced. Damage to water infrastructure affects 700,000 in south Lebanon. UN rights chief Volker Türk condemned Israel's destruction, and Defense Minister Israel Katz boasted of demolishing 24 villages.

The United Nations announced that more than 800,000 people displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war have begun returning to their hometowns, following a lull in violence. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA reported that 821,077 people had started returning to their areas of origin as of July 30, while more than 360,000 remained displaced, with around 26,000 in government shelters. OCHA also noted that damage to water and electricity infrastructure has severely affected access to water for over 700,000 people in south Lebanon. The announcement came as Lebanon and Israel began a new round of US-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at ending the fighting, scheduled to run until Thursday. Beirut seeks Israel's phased withdrawal from southern Lebanon, though Hezbollah has denounced the negotiations as a 'humiliation.' Last week, UN human rights chief Volker Türk visited southern Lebanon, condemning Israel's widespread destruction of towns and villages, which he said could amount to war crimes. He described 'wholesale destruction' of civilian homes and called for an end to Israel's presence in the south. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz boasted that Israel has completely destroyed 24 historic villages in southern Lebanon, claiming their residents operated on Hezbollah's behalf. He said 15,000 to 20,000 homes were demolished. The war began on March 2 after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel. More than a million Lebanese have been displaced and over 4,300 killed, according to Lebanese authorities. Israel says it killed at least 2,500 Hezbollah operatives.