BEIRUT, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Kneeling on the rubble of her destroyed home, Dalal Atwi, a resident of the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah who had been displaced for months, scooped up a handful of soil, kissed it, and looked around at what remained of her village.
"The first thing I did when I arrived was kiss the ground," the 50-year-old told Xinhua. "This is my land. This soil is mixed with our sweat and hard work. I thanked God that we were able to return to our village."
For Atwi, the homecoming was not simply a return after months of displacement. It was an emotional encounter with a place transformed by war.
Atwi was among about 320 families allowed to enter Zawtar al-Gharbiyah one week after the Lebanese army began deploying in the area under a pilot phase of new security arrangements in southern Lebanon. The initiative has made Zawtar al-Gharbiyah the first town where displaced residents have been allowed to return as preparations for reconstruction begin.
The village where Atwi had built her life now bears little resemblance to the one she left behind. Homes have been reduced to rubble, olive groves scarred by the fighting, and the destruction is so extensive that many residents can no longer recognize where their properties once stood.
From the early hours of Tuesday morning, dozens of vehicles gathered at the town's western entrance, waiting for permission to enter. The atmosphere blended the joy of returning with the anxiety of discovering whether the homes residents had left behind months earlier were still standing.
Some residents carried food and water, preparing to stay. Others clutched the keys to homes they did not know would still open to a familiar interior or lead them only to piles of debris.
Mayor Abed Ezzeddine described his own return as deeply shocking.
"When I entered, I couldn't even recognize where my own house had been," he said. "I no longer knew which pile of rubble belonged to it."
A preliminary municipal survey found that around 250 homes had been completely destroyed, about 200 sustained major damage and another 40 suffered minor damage, Ezzeddine said.
Despite the devastation, residents remain determined to return, viewing their homecoming as an affirmation of their enduring bond with their town.
Walking among the remains of his home, 60-year-old Hussein Nehme lamented the loss of more than just a house. What had disappeared, he said, was a place that had shaped his daily life and memories.
"No one in my family was killed," he said. "But my village died."
Another resident, Hassan Zeineddine, returned in search of personal belongings buried beneath the rubble.
"What I'm looking for isn't valuables," he said. "I'm searching for photographs, memories and small belongings that carry emotional value for my family."
As families slowly settled back into their homes, the Lebanese army continued to consolidate its deployment inside Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, while engineering units surveyed neighborhoods and cleared unexploded ordnance and other remnants of war to make the area safe for those returning.
Nearby, among the scattered rubble, 40-year-old Zeinab Harb laid a mattress on the roof of her damaged home.
"I will sleep on the roof of my house," she told Xinhua, saying that nothing would force her to leave again. "Staying here is my way of reclaiming my place. Even after war, home remains home." ■
