As Israel resumes strikes and issues forced displacement orders in southern Lebanon, residents of the region are expressing anger and helplessness during ongoing talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials.
For displaced families, the latest round of strikes on Thursday, which injured at least eight people, is further evidence that the June "ceasefire" has failed to protect them from Israeli military action. The Israeli military sparked the latest wave of panic by issuing a forced evacuation order for the town of al-Mansouri on Wednesday, marking its first displacement directive in weeks.
"Mansouri is not part of Israel's occupation zone," Yousef Shehemi, mayor of the neighbouring town of Majdal Zoun, told Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr. "But Israel has no red lines – they target where they want. They have not respected any ceasefire."
Families from al-Mansouri who fled were still gathered on the outskirts of the town on Thursday, waiting for word that it was safe to return.
Outrage was mounting on the ground as residents watched the Israeli military demolish homes and set fire to farmland, with many expressing little faith that ongoing negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli officials will secure their safe return.
Abu Rached, a resident of Majdal Zoun, said the destruction had gone unanswered by Lebanese officials. "Can't you see what they did to south Lebanon? They're destroying it, displacing people – even the [Lebanese] army can't stay in al-Mansouri," he told Al Jazeera. "Where are the officials?"
Representatives from Lebanon and Israel met in Rome for another round of negotiations earlier this week, after both governments signed a "framework" intended to secure an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon once Hezbollah is disarmed.
Hezbollah, which is not a part of the ongoing talks, has publicly opposed the deal.
The deal also envisioned "pilot zones", which Israel would pull back from and the Lebanese army would move into to ensure there are no weapons outside the control of the Lebanese state, allowing displaced people to return. But so far, the agreement has not secured any significant Israeli withdrawal in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military has been systematically wiping out villages in southern Lebanon, demolishing buildings and burning olive groves, a push that critics say amounts to an ethnic cleansing campaign.
Still, the region had seen relative calm over the past months. Hostilities renewed this week after an explosive device killed two invading Israeli soldiers, though it is not clear whether it was planted before or after the "ceasefire".
Hezbollah did not claim responsibility for the attack.
The Israeli attacks were concentrated in al-Mansouri but not confined to it.
Further north, in Burj Shemali, an Israeli strike hit a residential home, marking the first attack on the town since the "ceasefire" took effect in June. Almaza Hazim, a resident, described to Al Jazeera the chaos of trying to help a neighbouring family caught in the blast.
"Our neighbour was screaming from the explosion. We ran to help them – there were injuries – before another strike destroyed the house," Hazim said.