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Lebanon Cease-Fire Allows Families to Bury War Dead
A temporary lull in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah enabled Lebanese families to exhume temporary graves and conduct burials in southern villages. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported more than 3,000 deaths since March.
May 23, 1:21 PM·1m read1 source
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A lull in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah allowed families in southern Lebanon to exhume temporary graves and bury their dead in village cemeteries. The Lebanese Health Ministry said on Monday that more than 3,000 Lebanese have been killed since the war began in March. The ministry issued the figure as families returned to villages they had fled.
A cease-fire took effect on April 17.
Israel and Hezbollah have continued daily exchanges of fire since then. Late Friday and early Saturday, dozens of Israeli airstrikes hit Lebanon, killing and injuring several people, according to Lebanon’s national news agency.
During earlier weeks of fighting, temporary graves appeared across southern Lebanon because village cemeteries could not be reached. Ambulances delivered bodies of fighters and civilians for mass funerals. Women gathered around the vehicles while verses of the Quran played over loudspeakers. The early days of the cease-fire created a period when families could complete burials.
