JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Israel and Lebanon are holding their second round of direct ambassador-level peace talks at the White House. Today President Trump announced a three-week extension between Israel and Lebanon. The previous 10-day ceasefire was shaky. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf has been traveling through southern Lebanon to see the damage. We pick up her report at the Litani River.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: The Qasmiyeh Bridge was once a two-lane bridge over the river, one of several crossings to the south.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXCAVATOR MOVING DEBRIS)
LONSDORF: When we visit, half the bridge is crumpled into itself as an excavator claws through giant chunks of debris. Israel struck this bridge in the final hours before the temporary ceasefire was announced. It was the last intact crossing to the south. During this war, Israel struck every major bridge crossing the river, saying they were used by Hezbollah for weapons transport. But civilians use these bridges, and they're also used for aid workers to get into the areas most affected by the conflict.
ALI SAFIEDDINE: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: Ali Safieddine, the head of Lebanese civil defense for the area, says that construction crews have tried to quickly patch the bridges as best they can.
SAFIEDDINE: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: He points to a single-file line of cars carefully crawling across a pile of gravel that's been used to fill in the site of the strike.
SAFIEDDINE: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: He says people are eager to go back south now that a ceasefire is in effect.
SAFIEDDINE: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: But he's worried what could happen if people need to evacuate again if the ceasefire ends with all the bridges damaged. It'll be a mess, he says. People won't be able to get out quickly.
We go further south to the outskirts of Tyre. The further we go, the more destruction from Israeli air and drone strikes we see - rows of shops bombed out and blackened, tops blasted off high rises, whole buildings toppled to the ground. Temporary graves dot the roadside.
We stop at a school that's been serving as a shelter for some of the more than 1 million people displaced by the war. Lines of laundry crisscross the courtyard. Kids chase each other in the sun. Many still can't go home despite the ceasefire. The Israeli military is occupying a huge swath of land along the border for what it calls a buffer zone to keep Hezbollah from firing rockets or launching attacks into Israel. That area includes dozens of towns and villages.
ZAINAB MAHDI: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: Fifty-year-old Zainab Mahdi has been living here since 2024, after the last war between Israel and Hezbollah broke out. She's from the village of Naqoura right near the border.
MAHDI: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: Her home was heavily damaged during the last war. During the last ceasefire, she started to rebuild, but the war broke out again.
MAHDI: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: She's heard from U.N. peacekeepers that her house is completely gone now, along with most of the village. The Israeli military has published videos showing controlled demolitions of several Lebanese villages, calling them, quote, "Hezbollah infrastructure." Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz recently told Israeli troops, quote, "we are removing the threat just as we did in Gaza," referring to neighborhoods completely leveled by the Israeli military there.
MAHDI: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: Zainab Mahdi says that makes her really angry and also sad.
MAHDI: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "But I'm also feeling a lot of fear," she says, "what if I can't return in my lifetime?"
The last time Israel occupied part of southern Lebanon, it did so for nearly two decades. Now, Israel has said it's prepared to stay for months or even years.
We drive further south still to the village of Al-Mansouri. Israeli troops are less than a mile away. We've come here with the permission of Hezbollah. We've also alerted the Israeli military through the U.N.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRONE BUZZING)
LONSDORF: An Israeli surveillance drone buzzes overhead. The village center lies in ruins. A mosque blackened by fire and the minaret in pieces is the only recognizable building.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRAFFIC DRIVING BY)
LONSDORF: Motorbikes and cars pass through the main road, people coming to see if their homes are still livable. We meet 35-year-old Abed Ammar (ph), who says he and his family came back the first day of the ceasefire. Their home up on the hill is only lightly damaged.
ABED AMMAR: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "The Israelis used to be 10 kilometers away," he says, "but now they're less than one."
AMMAR: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "We hear the demolitions happening over the hill," he says. "Al-Mansouri feels like a border town now," he says.
We go just one more town south to Majdal Zoun and walk to the top of the hill.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)
LONSDORF: We're here way on top of the village. And you can see across the valley to another hill. And on top of that hill, flapping in the breeze is an Israeli flag.
Flying over a Lebanese village. Gunfire echoes in the distance, and smoke billows on the horizon. This is as far as we can go. We've come up here with Salman Harb, a spokesperson for Hezbollah. As we look out at the Israeli-occupied land, I ask him what he thinks of the direct talks happening between Israel and Lebanon today in Washington.
SALMAN HARB: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: He says, "Hezbollah does not approve of direct talks between the two, but if they result in Israel withdrawing from the land, then they'll accept it."
HARB: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "But," he says, "if Israel tries to make this occupation permanent by extending the ceasefire over and over again, we will use our tools to fight it."
I tell him that sounds like resuming the war.
HARB: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "This land belongs to Lebanon," he responds. And then he says, "it's time to go."
Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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