Lebanese villagers blocked from returning home as Israeli forces remain in area

Ali Rogin:

Good evening. I'm Ali Rogin. John Yang is away. Israel pulled its forces from a key Gaza corridor today, which it used as a military zone during the war, cutting off the north of the Gaza Strip from the south. The withdrawal is part of a fragile ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Drone footage revealed the scale of destruction at the Netzerim Corridor. People can be seen sifting through debris, carrying bodies and making their way home.

Meanwhile, on Israel's northern front inside Lebanon, its forces there have already missed a deadline to withdraw, and concerns are mounting. They may stay past February 18, a second deadline to pull out. Simona Foltyn is on the ground at the Lebanese border.

Simona Foltyn:

This is Yaroun, one of several Lebanese border villages still under Israeli control. Near the roadblock erected by the IDF, I met Mohammed Shaheen, the village chief. He's a dual Lebanese American citizen who lived in California for almost two decades.

Mohammed Shaheen, Village Chief, Yaroun:

We are at the main entrance of Yaroun. This is the east side of Yaroun. The Israelis are in this side. We have few standing house. I guess they want to destroy them before they leave.

Simona Foltyn:

Every day, he and other villagers watch as the IDF demolishes more homes, some owned by American citizens like Shaheen.

Mohammed Shaheen:

They usually put the explosives. We can see them. Everybody can see them. They're visible, put in explosives next to the houses, and by sunset they bombed them. Yeah, they do three, four houses, five houses, sometimes at a time. Now, if you stay later, you'll see them yourself.

Simona Foltyn:

We don't have to wait long. From afar, we film a group of Israeli soldiers entering a home. Soon after, it set on fire. It all happens in plain sight of the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.

Simona Foltyn:

The Israeli army is stationed in those houses over there, just a few hundred meters away. And when we pointed our zoom lens at them a little while ago, they fired warning shots in our direction. So it's pretty clear that they don't want to be filmed.

Simona Foltyn:

A third of Yaroun's inhabitants are Christian. The historic church now lies in ruins, as does Shaheen's 100-year-old family home. He took this video a few days back when he brief returned with the Lebanese Army. The IDF says it's still clearing villages of Hezbollah's weapons and dismantling the group's tunnel infrastructure, which it says are embedded in civilian homes. People here see it differently.

Mohammed Shaheen:

There's nobody in Yaroun. There's nobody there. They just want to destroy everything. They don't want people to come back and live.

Simona Foltyn:

How many houses have been destroyed in Yaron since the ceasefire came into effect?

Mohammed Shaheen:

Since the ceasefire, I'll say about between 200, 250 houses. Yeah.

Simona Foltyn:

We looked at satellite images to verify Shaheen's allegations of Israeli demolitions in Yaroun during the ceasefire period. Between December 1 and February 2, at least 143 houses were destroyed. There are also reports that the IDF has been uprooting Lebanon's precious trees. Yaroun was famous for its ancient oak forest.

Mohammed Shaheen:

The size of it is 600,000 square meter. They took them all off. They took them into Israel. They brought heavy machineries, took them all out, loaded them on trucks.

Simona Foltyn:

The forest is seen here, to the west of the village. Satellite images show that since January, 71 percent of the trees, or 120 acres, have been removed, and Yaroun is no exception. Driving along the border, many villages are destroyed or remain inaccessible.

Simona Foltyn:

So we're on our way now to another village called Blida. We just spoke to some civilians who told us that Blida is still occupied by the Israeli army and they're not allowing civilians to return to their homes.

Simona Foltyn:

We arrive at a Lebanese army checkpoint. I ask the soldiers if it's safe to go on down the road. We come onto another roadblock and a warning. The Israeli army has killed more than 20 Lebanese in the past two weeks as they attempted to return home. Despite the risk, some remain undeterred.

Rabea Hussain, Blida Resident:

I went to my brother's house to reassure him that it's still standing. What we can do? Hopefully soon will be able to return.

Simona Foltyn:

Amid the delays, the anger mounts.

Zeinab Naim Hanawi, Blida Resident:

This is our land. We want to go back.

Simona Foltyn:

Zaynab Naim blames the international community for not pressuring the Israeli army to withdraw in line with the agreed timetable.

Zeinab Naim Hanawi:

All the countries have agreed with them at the expense of the people. They are occupying and they are talking. The ceasefire was 60 days, then it became another 18. And then what? We want our houses back. Our houses and our land are our dignity.

Simona Foltyn:

Israel says that Lebanon hasn't lived up to its side of the deal. As the IDF gradually pulls back, it's leaving behind a trail of destruction similar to what we've seen in Gaza. This is Ter Harfa. The main street is unrecognizable. Qassem Hussain Hayder is the town's mayor.

Mayor Qassem Hussain Hayder, Ter Harfa:

As you can see, 90 to 95 percent of the houses in the village have been destroyed and are uninhabitable.

Simona Foltyn:

The IDF left Ter Harfa on January 27, but the death toll keeps rising. In the village cemetery, a funeral is underway for Abbas Hayder and his two young daughters. They and another child were killed in an explosion the day before. It occurred here inside the family home.

Qassem Hussain Hayder:

It happened within five minutes of him arriving home. He parked his car and entered. Then there was an explosion.

Simona Foltyn:

Abbas had only just begun to rebuild his house. The mayor accuses the IDF of booby trapping it.

Qassem Hussain Hayder:

The way the Israeli enemy is infiltrating other areas to kill and bomb, they can easily infiltrate from the southern areas.

Simona Foltyn:

The IDF is due to withdraw completely on February 18. No matter the destruction, the Lebanese displaced from their land have vowed to return.

Mohammed Shaheen:

The moment they leave, people of Yaroun will come back, even if they live in tents.

Simona Foltyn:

For PBS News Weekend, I'm Simona Foltyn at Lebanon's border with Israel.

Ali Rogin:

We reached out to the IDF for their response to this report and they said in part, they act in strict accordance with international law and make all feasible efforts to mitigate harm to civilians during operational activity. They added, quote, it must be emphasized that Hezbollah unlawfully embeds its military assets into densely populated civilian areas and cynically exploits civilian infrastructure for terror purposes.