#demilitarized-zone

#demilitarized-zone

The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and France, formally aimed to end active hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. In practice, however, the agreement never truly halted the conflict. Israeli forces maintained a presence in Lebanese territory, and military strikes against Lebanon continued on an almost daily basis.

Iranian health officials contend the U.S. and Israeli campaign has killed 1,200 people there. Lebanese authorities report 500 deaths in an Israeli assault. And we go next to Lebanon, where NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi has been covering this from Beirut.

One was on October 19, when Israeli forces bombed a café - a space to breathe away from scenes of destruction, a place to work or study with a reliable internet connection, a meeting point for displaced friends, a brief chance to enjoy the moment. I could have been there. I was juggling my studies ahead of a musculoskeletal exam for medical school, planning to go to the café for a stable internet connection. But something held me back. I stayed home.

The Syrian army and the SDF agreed to a four-day ceasefire on Tuesday, after Kurdish fighters relinquished swaths of territory to government forces, which also sent reinforcements to a Kurdish stronghold in the northeast. Government troops have seized expanses of northern and eastern territory in the last two weeks from the SDF in a rapid turn of events that has consolidated President Ahmed al-Sharaa's rule.