BEIRUT: After the ceasefire in Lebanon took hold, Samah Hajoul headed back to her apartment in south Beirut -- but only long enough to grab fresh clothes, feeling safer in her tent as she wonders whether the truce will last.
"I am afraid to return to my home because the situation is not stable yet," the displaced mother of four told AFP from her campsite on the capital's seafront.
The ceasefire, which entered its second day Saturday, has granted many people the chance to check on their homes.
Hajoul found her apartment lightly damaged, with broken windows, but was only there to "bathe the children and get summer clothes" as temperatures started to rise.
"We do not feel safe to return, for fear that something might happen at night and I would not be able to carry my children and flee with them," she added.
Like many other displaced residents, Hajoul was waiting to "see what happens" at the end of the 10-day truce before deciding whether to go back.
"If the ceasefire is consolidated, we will return to our homes," she said.
In the heavily bombed suburbs, neighborhoods were still largely empty on Saturday, aside from those making quick visits to their homes, according to an AFP correspondent.
Among them was Hassan, 29, who only picked up a few things before returning to a school turned government shelter.
Hassan, who only gave his first name, pointed to "tension" surrounding Israeli strikes in the south and Iran's announcement it was again closing the Strait of Hormuz, rattling the ongoing ceasefire in the broader war.
With both Israel and Hezbollah accusing each other of breaching the truce in Lebanon, Hassan said "there is no indication that there is a solution".
"We are afraid that if we return to the suburbs we will lose our place in the school to which we were displaced."
