The residents of Zawtar El Gharbiyeh have not been allowed to return to their homes despite the IDF withdrawal.
Residents of the war-torn southern Lebanese village of Zawtar El Gharbiyeh say they feel it “betrayed” and their government after being prevented from returning home despite the start of the IDF withdrawal, RT reporter Steve Sweeney reports.
The criticism comes as Beirut and West Jerusalem begin implementing a US-backed deal to withdraw the IDF from so-called ‘testing zones’ near the Yellow Line, Israel’s self-proclaimed buffer zone in southern Lebanon. Israel has insisted that the withdrawal depends on Hezbollah disarming those areas, which the militant group has rejected.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited Zawtar El Gharbiyeh – which is on the Yellow Line – on Wednesday, raising the national flag and announcing Lebanon’s return to the destroyed village.
Residents camped outside, however, say they have been prevented from returning to what is left of their homes.
“We felt betrayed. We are the rightful owners of this land, and we are the ones who sacrificed and sacrificed a lot for it. We are the ones who should enter the village and plant the Lebanese flag,” one woman told RT.
Mayor Abed Ezzedine said that local authorities had received little information about the evacuation and that residents were still being denied access.
“If things stay as they are, it means Israel will stay there for a long time,” He said.
Meanwhile, all three of the ‘test sites’ chosen by Israel remain close to key strategic areas that the IDF has so far failed to wrest from Hezbollah, Sweeney noted.
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