As displaced families in southern Lebanon begin returning home following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, many are confronted with devastating scenes of destruction. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble by intense Israeli airstrikes during the 14-month conflict. For Mariam Kourani, 56, the destruction is personal. Walking through the remains of her house and restaurant in Hanouiyeh, she reflected on the $120,000 in losses her family incurred. “This was my house, my dreams, and my hard work,” she said, her voice heavy with emotion. The airstrike in late September destroyed everything, including her butcher shop and a business selling serving containers. Kourani and her family are among nearly 1.2 million displaced people now returning to assess the damage. Many, like Kourani, find their homes gone, with their livelihoods in ruins. After renting an apartment in Mount Lebanon for $1,000 a month during their displacement, her priority is now to repair their butcher shop to resume earning an income. “We are starting from below zero,” she said. Housing Crisis and Uncertain ReconstructionThe World Bank estimates that nearly 100,000 housing units were partially or fully damaged during the war, causing $3.2 billion in losses. Reconstruction funding remains uncertain. While Iran has offered assistance, its economic struggles and sanctions complicate the process. Hezbollah has pledged temporary accommodations for families who lost their homes, but the scale of the damage poses significant challenges. Read:Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah start a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting Ali Saleh, a 59-year-old resident of Aita al-Shaab near the Israeli border, has seen this destruction before. His home, rebuilt with Qatari aid after being destroyed in the 2006 war, was obliterated again. “All the memories are gone,” he said. Saleh is now searching for a place to stay near his hometown, which he described as “disaster-stricken.” In Baalbek, a UNESCO World Heritage site, 34-year-old Souad al-Outa returned to find her home in ruins. A recent airstrike in her neighborhood had killed several people, including her husband’s relatives. Standing in the wreckage of her children’s bedroom, she mourned the loss of her once “beautiful life.” Resilience Amid LossDespite the destruction, some families remain resolute. In Qana, Abu Ahmad Salameh retrieved two carpets from the rubble of his family’s homes. “All this damage can be rebuilt,” he said. “This is our land, and we will stay here no matter what.” The war’s toll goes beyond material losses. Kourani, who fled her home with her family on Sept. 23 as the conflict escalated, emphasized the human cost. “Israel has filled our land with blood,” she said. “Our big loss is our men.” Read more:Israeli strikes kill a hospital director in Lebanon and wound 9 medics in Gaza As Lebanon grapples with the aftermath of the war, the resilience of its people is evident. Yet, the road to recovery remains fraught with uncertainty and hardship. Source: With inputs from agencies

On Thursday, Israel launched an airstrike on southern Lebanon, marking the first such attack since a ceasefire with Hezbollah was declared earlier this week. The Israeli military stated the strike targeted a rocket storage site linked to Hezbollah, accusing the group of violating the truce. Lebanese authorities reported sporadic incidents of Israeli shelling and gunfire, which injured two people attempting to return to southern Lebanon. While Lebanese media identified the injured as civilians, the Israeli military described them as suspects breaching the ceasefire. Despite these skirmishes, the truce largely held as Lebanese forces began deploying in areas long dominated by Hezbollah. Read: Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah start a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting Efforts are underway to facilitate the return of displaced residents. Over 1.2 million people were forced to flee their homes during Lebanon's deadliest conflict in decades. However, restrictions remain in place, with both Israeli and Lebanese authorities cautioning civilians against entering border zones still under military control. Israeli forces reported opening fire on "several suspects" entering restricted areas in southern Lebanon, though specifics were not disclosed. Lebanese state media reported two civilians wounded in the border village of Markaba amid ongoing Israeli tank fire in nearby villages, which caused no casualties. Adding to the tension, the Lebanese military accused Israel of multiple ceasefire breaches, citing airstrikes and surveillance operations. An Israeli military spokesperson announced a curfew for Lebanese residents south of the Litani River, enforcing strict movement restrictions from Thursday evening to Friday morning. Read: Displaced people return to south Lebanon as ceasefire appears to hold The fragile truce, brokered by the U.S. and France, mandates Hezbollah’s withdrawal north of the Litani River and a gradual Israeli pullback, with Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers set to patrol a buffer zone. Lebanese military officials are clearing unexploded ordnance and debris to pave the way for displaced families to return. Drone footage revealed extensive destruction in towns like Qana, which has endured repeated devastation in past conflicts with Israel. Residents returning to sift through the rubble expressed a mix of grief and resilience. “They’re determined to destroy us,” said Aref AbouKhalil, a local taxi driver. “But we’ll build it again.” Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi, emphasized that any violations of the ceasefire would be met with force. He reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to the agreement while urging caution for displaced Israelis considering returning to their northern border communities. Though the day saw reduced violence compared to recent months, the situation remains tense. The ongoing war in Gaza, which triggered this conflict, continues unabated, with no resolution in sight. Source: With inputs from agencies

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday his support for a U.S.-mediated ceasefire proposal with Lebanon’s Hezbollah as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon intensified, claiming at least 23 lives. The military issued widespread evacuation notices, signaling potential escalations before the agreement takes effect. For the first time during the conflict, Israeli troops reached the Litani River, a key element of the proposed deal. Netanyahu stated he would present the ceasefire proposal to his cabinet, with a vote expected later in the day. The ceasefire terms, which remain undisclosed, would not impact Israel’s ongoing operations against Hamas in Gaza. Read: Top EU diplomat says Israel has 'no excuses' to refuse a ceasefire with Hezbollah The agreement proposes a two-month halt to hostilities, requiring Hezbollah to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon while Israeli troops retreat to their borders. Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would oversee compliance under international monitoring. The intensified strikes in Beirut targeted residential areas, killing civilians and prompting widespread evacuations. Hezbollah continued its rocket attacks, prompting sirens in northern Israel. Israeli officials emphasized their right to respond if Hezbollah violates the deal, underscoring challenges in implementation. European Union diplomats urged all parties to adhere to the agreement, warning of potential collapse in Lebanon if fighting persists. Source: agency

The European Union’s top diplomat said Tuesday there were “no excuses” for Israel to refuse to accept a ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, saying all its security concerns had been addressed in the U.S.-French-brokered deal. Josep Borrell, the outgoing EU foreign policy chief, called for increased pressure on Israel to blunt extremists in the government who are refusing to accept the deal. Speaking on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting in Italy, Borrell warned that if a ceasefire is not implemented, “Lebanon will fall apart." Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet was set to convene Tuesday to discuss a proposed ceasefire. Among the issues that remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal. Borrell said under the proposed agreement, the U.S. would chair a ceasefire implementation committee, with France participating at the request of Lebanon. “On the proposal agreement brokered by the U.S. and France, Israel has all security concerns (addressed),” Borrell told reporters in Fiuggi, Italy. “There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart.” Following the October 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel, months of back-and-forth fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah have erupted into a full-blown war in recent months, with Israel killing Hezbollah’s main leaders and sending ground forces into southern Lebanon. Israeli bombardment has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 15,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by rockets, drones and missiles in northern Israel and in the fighting on the ground in Lebanon. The G7 meeting of foreign ministers from the world's leading industrialized nations, the last of the Biden administration, was dominated on Monday by the Mideast wars in Gaza and Lebanon. The G7 ministers were joined by the foreign ministers of the “Arab Quintet”: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Borrell, whose term ends Dec. 1, said he proposed to the G7 and Arab ministers that the U.N. Security Council take up a resolution specifically demanding humanitarian assistance reach Palestinians in Gaza, saying deliveries there have been completely impeded. “The two-state solution will come later. Everything will come later. But we are talking about weeks or days,” for desperate Palestinians, he said. “Hunger has been used as an arm against people who are completely abandoned.” It was a reference to the main accusation leveled by the International Criminal Court in its arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former defense minister. Israel has angrily denied the charges, calling them antisemitic and a victory for terrorism and said the charges failed to recognize the country’s right to defend itself. Borrell said the signatories to ICC, including six of the seven G7 members, are obliged under international law to respect and implement the court’s decisions. The U.S. is not a party to the court and has called the arrest warrants “outrageous.” Host Italy put the ICC warrants on the G7 agenda at the last minute, but there was no consensus on the wording of how the G7 would respond given the position of the U.S., Israel’s closest ally. Italy, too, has said it respects the court but expressed concern that the warrants were politically motivated and ill-advised given Netanyahu is necessary for any deal to end the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. “Like it or not, the International Criminal Court is a court as powerful as any national court,” Borrell said. “And if the Europeans don’t support International Criminal Court then there would not be any hope for justice.” By Tuesday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani acknowledged Italy's obligations. Italy was one of the first signatories of the ICC and hosted the 1998 Rome conference that gave birth to it. “We are friends of Israel but I think we need to respect international law,” he said as he waited to greet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken heads to last G7 meeting of Biden presidency with Ukraine and Mideast topping the agenda While the G7 meeting was dominated Monday by the Mideast conflicts, the attention turned Tuesday to Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was on hand and briefed the ministers on Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, Tajani said. “We want to repeat, visibly, our solidarity from Italy and the G7,” Tajani told the ministers at the start of Tuesday’s session. “Support to Kyiv is a priority.” The G7 has been at the forefront of providing military and economic support for Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and G7 members are particularly concerned about how a Trump administration will change the U.S. approach. Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies. Tensions have only heightened since Russia attacked Ukraine last week with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory. Hezbollah cease-fire deal could come 'within days': Israeli ambassador to US Blinken, at his final G7 before the Biden administration leaves office, thanked Tajani for the collaboration over the years and said Washington was still standing with its allies. “Our countries are standing together, along with other partners, to deal with the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine," Blinken said. "We’re standing together to deal with some of the challenges posed by China. We’re standing together in looking to bring a sustainable, lasting peace in the Middle East.”  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday (November 22, 2023) urged the G20 leaders to call with one voice for an instant ceasefire in Gaza and for an immediate, unhindered flow of humanitarian relief to the suffering victims. The prime minister made the call speaking at the G20 Leaders’ Summit virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the virtual G20 leaders’ summit to deliberate on the implementation of the Delhi Declaration prior to concluding India’s presidency this month. The G20 is a forum for international economic cooperation comprising 19 countries -Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US - and the European Union. Spain was invited as a permanent guest at the forum, while India included Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates as guest countries during its presidency. Hasina said that for over a month and a half, the world has been witnessing in Palestine a merciless, genocidal slaughter of thousands of men and women and tragically innocent children numbering over 10,000. Read more: G20 agreement reflects sharp differences over Ukraine and the rising clout of the Global South “All these monstrous acts have stunned the world, intensified global distress, and slowed worldwide economic progress,” she said. She also mentioned that the current war in Europe with sanctions and counter-sanctions has taken a worldwide human and economic toll and continues to do so. “In today’s globalized world, surely it would be easy to firmly say “NO” to all wars and conflicts to save human lives and humanity,” she said. In this connection, she mentioned that a good beginning could be fostering good neighbourly relations and spreading their reach far around the globe. “I am happy to draw your attention to Bangladesh and neighbour India’s excellent relations, which are recognised as a Role Model of Neighbourhood Diplomacy,” she said. She said that neighbours can certainly resolve issues through friendly “Dialogue,” as Bangladesh and India have proven with their maritime and land boundaries. The prime minister said that Bangladesh is committed to a peaceful and prosperous world. “It has become our duty to ensure the wellbeing of everyone in our global family. In that spirit, I seek your earnest support for the repatriation of more than a million Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (Rohingyas) from Bangladesh to Myanmar,” she said. She hoped that the commitments that the nations have made at the G20 Summit will bear fruition and transform into concrete action. “I also believe the Summit’s theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ will continue to inspire us to care for, protect, and make Planet Earth, our common home, a better place for our future generations,” she said. PM Hasina said that she was heartened that the leaders agreed in New Delhi to strengthen Multilateral Development Banks to help Low-and Middle-Income countries address their development needs, particularly those related to Climate Action, Technological Transformation, Digital Public Infrastructure, and women-led development, which are imperative for a better future. The meeting aims to provide an impetus to implement the Delhi Declaration unanimously agreed upon by all members at the 18th G20 leaders’ summit held in New Delhi in September. During the closing session of the New Delhi summit on September 10, Modi had announced India would be hosting a virtual summit. Leaders of the G20 nations, including the chair of the African Union, as well as nine guest countries, and heads of 11 international organisations have been invited to the meeting. On December 1, India assumed the mantle of the G20 presidency. India holds the G20 Presidency until November 30. The G20 troika during the Brazilian G20 presidency in 2024 will comprise India, Brazil and South Africa. The new troika will be formed when Brazil assumes the presidency next month, with India as the past presidency and South Africa holding the presidency after Brazil. The G20 members represent around 85 percent of the global GDP, over 75 percent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. Read more: India forges compromise among divided world powers at the G20 summit in a diplomatic win for Modi

Bangladesh has welcomed the UN brokered two-month long ceasefire between the parties of the Yemen conflict which came into effect from April 2 at the advent of Holy month of Ramadan. Bangladesh also appreciated the efforts of the Joint Forces Command of the Arab coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen and appreciated the efforts of all the parties in Yemen for agreeing to this ceasefire. Also read: Yemen rebels strike oil depot in Saudi city hosting F1 race “Bangladesh hopes that the stakeholders will take this opportunity to continue the political process to reach a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict in Yemen,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday. Bangladesh also noted the recent initiative by the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf for urging all stakeholders to enter into dialogue and for promoting Yemeni-Yemeni consultations for reaching a lasting and sustainable solution to the crisis. “Bangladesh remains committed to supporting all efforts for maintenance of peace and stability in the region,” MoFA said.  

Russian defense officials announced a a temporary cease-fire in two Ukrainian cities to allow civilians to evacuate, but a local official reported that shelling continued in his area Saturday despite the deal, a sign of the fragility of efforts to stop fighting across the country. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement it had agreed on evacuation routes with Ukrainian forces for the strategic port of Mariupol in the southeast and the eastern city of Volnovakha, which would be the first breakthrough in allowing people to escape the war . The vaguely worded statement did not make clear how long the routes would remain open. Mariupol had become the scene of growing misery amid days of shelling that knocked out power and most phone service and raised the prospect of food and water shortages for hundreds of thousands of people in freezing weather. Pharmacies are out of medicine, Doctors Without Borders said. A top official there said the cease-fire there was to last until 4 p.m. (2 p.m. GMT) and an evacuation was beginning at 11 a.m. (9 a.m. GMT.) Pavlo Kirilenko, head of the Donetsk military-civil administration that includes Mariupol, said the humanitarian corridor would extend from the city to Zaporizhzhia, about 226 kilometers (140 miles) away. Read: UN agency: Ukraine exodus reaches 1.45 million But Mariupol deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov later told the BBC that the Russians “continue to use hard artillery and rockets to bomb Mariupol. That’s why people are very scared, but anyway they go to three specific points from which we will go to evacuate them by municipal buses.” Youtube video thumbnailThe head of Ukraine’s security council, Oleksiy Danilov, had urged Russia to create humanitarian corridors to allow children, women and the older adults to flee the fighting, calling them “question No. 1.” Diplomatic efforts continued as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Poland to meet with the prime minister and foreign minister, a day after attending a NATO meeting in Brussels in which the alliance pledged to step up support for eastern flank members. Blinken would visit a border post to meet refugees later in the day. As Russian forces batter strategic locations elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has lashed out at NATO for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over his country, warning that “all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you.” NATO said a no-fly zone could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia. But as the United States and other NATO members send weapons for Kyiv and more than 1 million refugees spill through the continent, the conflict is already drawing in countries far beyond Ukraine’s borders. Read: War in Ukraine: Zelensky slams Nato over rejection of no-fly zone Russia continues to crack down on independent media reporting on the war, also blocking Facebook and Twitter, and more outlets say they are pausing their work inside the country. And in a warning of a hunger crisis yet to come, the U.N. World Food Program says millions of people inside Ukraine, a major global wheat supplier, will need food aid “immediately.” Ukraine’s president was set to brief U.S. senators Saturday by video conference as Congress considers a request for $10 billion in emergency funding for humanitarian aid and security needs. In a bitter and emotional speech late Friday, Zelenskyy criticized NATO over the lack of a no-fly zone, warning that “the history of Europe will remember this forever.” A no-fly zone would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had ruled out that possibility. “The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace, and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes,” he said. In a separate video message to antiwar protesters in several European cities, Zelenskyy appealed for help. “If we fall, you will fall,” he said. The U.N. Security Council scheduled an open meeting for Monday on the worsening humanitarian situation. The United Nations estimates that 12 million people in Ukraine and 4 million fleeing to neighboring countries in the coming months will need humanitarian aid. Read: Fire out at key Ukraine nuclear plant, no radiation released Russia’s attack on Friday on Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, in Zaporizhzhia, caused global alarm, but Russian forces did not make significant progress in their offensive to sever Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which would deal a severe blow to the country’s economy. A vast Russian armored column threatening Ukraine’s capital remained stalled outside Kyiv, but Russia’s military has launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites across the country. As homes in the northern city of Chernihiv burned from what locals described as Russian shelling, one resident accused Europe of merely looking on. “We wanted to join NATO and the EU and this is the price we are paying, and NATO cannot protect us,” she said. At least 331 civilians have been confirmed killed since the fighting began but the true number is probably much higher, the U.N. human rights office said. Kyiv’s central train station remained crowded with people desperate to join the more than 1.4 million who have fled Ukraine. “People just want to live,” one woman, Ksenia, said.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said it was necessary to immediately cease fire in Ukraine where Russian armed forces are conducting a military operation, the Elysee Palace said on Monday. Also read: Putin puts nuclear forces on high alert, escalating tensions "In connection with the start of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, the President of the Republic asked that the following be observed on the ground: a cessation of all strikes and attacks on civilians and their places of residence, the preservation of all civilian infrastructure, ensuring security on highways, especially south of Kiev," the Elysee said in a statement. The statement asserts that Putin "assured he was willing to commit himself on these three counts." The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure with precision strikes, and therefore there are no threats to the civilian population. Also read: Ukraine talks yield no breakthrough as Russians close in

Rival neighbors Pakistan and India have pledged to stop firing weapons across the border in disputed Kashmir, promising to adhere to a 2003 accord that has been largely ignored, officials from both sides said on Thursday.

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh region starting Saturday noon, following lengthy negotiations in Moscow on Friday night.