UNHCR reports that they expect some 120,000 people to have returned to Lebanon from Syria by midnight tonight with collective centers at Aleppo, Homs and Tartus virtually empty. WFP estimates that only 1,850 people are left in shelters in Damascus. The UK’s Mine Action Group (MAG) warns that UXO clearance of some villages on the Nabatiye area alone will take weeks. Clearance of UXOs near civilian residences is a priority with the rush to return. MAG suggests that the UXO contamination in Lebanon is on a far higher scale than that identified in Iraq after the end of the war in 2003. Read more about Lebanese return as Beirut airport opens for business 

Behind a destroyed school, Nabil Chrara sat on a pile of rocks, crying his heart out as he watched a tractor dig up the bodies of four members of his family. “They refused to leave the house,” he said. The village of Bint Jbeil, some 80 km south of Beirut, bore witness to some of the heaviest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. “They have been dead for 25 days now,” said Nabil Chrara. “My neighbour survived, but not my family.” Behind him, Yusef Abdalla Harb looked across from the tent he has erected over his ruined home to Maroun Al-Ras, a hilltop still occupied by Israeli troops. Read more about The stench of death awaits people returning 

An endless stream of cars filled with families clogs the dusty tracks of southern Lebanon. After the month-long conflict between Israel and the armed wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah party, displaced civilians are heading home. Lebanon’s Higher Relief Council says some 200,000 of the one million people it estimates were displaced by the conflict, have hit the road since a United Nations-brokered ceasefire began on Monday. On the journey home, some fly yellow Hezbollah flags from their cars. After driving for 12 hours from Beirut, they reach their villages, or at least what is left of them. Read more about Destruction and defiance as southerners return home 

The Palestine Refugees in South Lebanon live in the city of Tyre, villages around the city and towards the Israeli border and in three camps: El-Buss (1.5km south-east of the city of Tyre), Burj el-Shemali (3km east of Tyre) and Rashidieh (on the seashore 5km south of Tyre). With the outbreak of the conflict on 12-13 July the Palestine refugee camps saw both inflows and outflows of displaced people. A survey estimated the population of the three camps at 25,363, with 2,920 having left the camps, and 22,443 left behind. While UNRWA has no precise data on the whereabouts of those who left, the community reports that most have gone to friends and family in the Palestinian camps in Saida. Read more about The situation of Palestine refugees in South Lebanon 

On an ordinary August afternoon, the Al-Quds school on the outskirts of Damascus would be empty, its pupils enjoying their summer break. But this year it is playing host to dozens of Palestinian families who fled the conflict in Lebanon. As thousands of Lebanese refugees return home from Syria, the Palestinians here remain cautious. “We will wait a few days to see what the situation is. It’s too early to go back yet,” said Fadi Hussein Khalil. The conflict began on 12 July after the armed wing of the political party Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers, and Israel responded a large-scale offensive and a blockade. Read more about Palestinians anxiously await return to Lebanon 

NABATIYEH — United Nations deminers beginning emergency survey and clearance work in the south of Lebanon have identified 10 locations where Israel used artillery-delivered cluster munitions during the recent hostilities, Human Rights Watch reported today. Human Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon have inspected two of those sites in the village of Kfar Roummane. Dangerous unexploded submunitions, duds that fail to detonate on impact but are still live and at risk of exploding, are present in areas of Nabatiyeh, Tabnine and Beit Yahoun, as well as areas adjacent to the 3km road connecting Tabnine and Beit Yahoun, U.N. demining officials said. Read more about Israeli Cluster Munitions Threaten Civilians