After weeks of fighting, ceasefire sparks cautious celebration in Lebanon

[0:00] Welcome to the NewsHour. Iran said today it has reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial [0:05] shipping, a move President Trump quickly welcomed on social media. But even as traffic resumes, [0:11] the president says the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports will remain in place. [0:16] But Iranian officials also said ships must follow designated restricted routes and in some cases [0:22] must coordinate transit with Iran. In the meantime, there are new disagreements and [0:26] competing claims over Iran's nuclear program days before a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran [0:33] is set to expire. And in Lebanon, the day-old truce between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to hold after [0:39] weeks of intense fighting. Special correspondent Simona Fultin begins our coverage. Tonight, [0:46] both the U.S. and Iran claim that the Strait of Hormuz is completely open once again. President [0:52] Trump and Iran's foreign minister Abbas Arachie announced that full passage of commercial ship [0:57] traffic would resume through the critical waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil flows. [1:03] Across the world, markets rejoiced and crude prices plummeted on the news. Iran said the reopening [1:11] would last for the duration of the 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon. But there are still disputes. [1:16] President Trump said that the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait would remain in full force [1:21] until Iran reached a sweeping deal with the U.S. [1:25] There's still, Iran says there's significant differences? [1:30] Well, there could be. Let's see what happens. If there are, we'll have to straighten it out. But [1:33] I don't think there's too many significant differences. [1:36] On the blockade, Mr. President, what will it take to end the blockade? [1:39] When the agreement is signed, the blockade ends. As soon as the agreement gets signed, [1:43] that's when the blockade ends. [1:45] For the president, that means Iran would give up its highly enriched uranium, [1:49] what Trump calls nuclear dust. With such delicate diplomacy at stake, [1:54] Mr. Trump also warned Israel not to return to fighting. [1:58] Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are prohibited from doing so by the U.S.A. [2:04] Enough is enough. [2:06] The ceasefire announcement sparked cautious celebration in Lebanon last night. [2:12] People poured into the streets, relieved for a moment at least, [2:15] to get a respite from Israeli attacks that have killed more than 2,000 people. [2:19] For hours, cars clogged roads leading south, as many of the displaced returned. [2:25] Mohammed and his wife Nadia couldn't wait to get back home with four-month-old Adam, [2:31] who survived his first war. [2:33] If I die tomorrow, I want to be buried on my land. We've suffered a lot during this war. To leave one's [2:42] home behind is very painful. [2:44] Maybe we will be scared if we hear some sounds of war, but we don't have a choice. [2:49] We want to go back to our land. [2:51] When they fled the bombing, there was fear they'd never be allowed to go back, [2:56] as Israeli troops pushed north in a bit to occupy southern Lebanon. [3:00] These cars are full of displaced families heading home. You can see some of the cars have mattresses [3:06] and other belongings trapped to the roofs. And this is in spite of warnings by both the Israeli [3:11] and the Lebanese government to stay away from areas south of the Litani, where the IDF continues [3:16] to operate. But people are anxious to get home. They want to check on their houses to see if they [3:22] still stand after weeks of heavy bombardment in what is also a message of defiance, that they will not [3:28] be forced from their land. [3:29] The ceasefire before this one, agreed in 2024, failed to end the war. Israel violated the agreement [3:35] on a near daily basis, bombing villages in the south, even as Hezbollah held its fire. [3:41] So you're going back now. Are you confident that the ceasefire will hold? [3:46] Not that confident. But the thing is, like, we don't have any other option. Our land, our home, [3:53] our families, the neighborhood, everyone is going up. You know, like, this time it's not only [3:58] about Lebanon, you know. It's like in the region, like between Iran, USA, Hormuz. [4:06] So you think that helps? Yeah. And like, if it, like, in the region, if it stayed like that, [4:13] and Lebanon will, like, by default, the ceasefire will continue in Lebanon. [4:17] Not everyone is convinced that this regional war is about to end. After six weeks of intense fighting [4:23] here in Lebanon, ten days of pause don't seem like much. And even those will be filled with [4:28] uncertainty whether ongoing talks will usher in lasting truce. These displaced families, [4:35] camping out on Beirut's waterfront, have chosen to wait and see. [4:42] We want to finish with this war and go home. But these ten days are for what? What are we supposed [4:47] to do with ten days? We go. And if there's a new war, we're displaced again? [4:51] Hossein's home in Beirut's southern suburbs is gone. It's one of more than 37,000 housing units [4:57] destroyed in Israeli attacks. [4:59] Our house is no more. Where would we live? We'll stay here. We'll see what happens during these ten days. [5:11] If it goes well, we'll go back and rent an apartment. What else can we do? [5:15] People here don't trust that the Trump administration can push Israel to abide by the ceasefire. [5:28] They always say they want a ceasefire, but they hit us again. That's why we're afraid to go back. [5:33] We have children. They're all liars without honor. They want to take our land and destroy everything. [5:39] Israel insists that Hezbollah must be completely disarmed. But many Lebanese feel that Israel's [5:45] invasion was more about taking Lebanese land than Hezbollah's weapons. And Israel made it clear [5:51] today that it has no intention of ever leaving. The Israeli army holds and will continue to hold [5:59] all the places it has cleared and conquered. The ground maneuver into Lebanon and the attacks on [6:04] Hezbollah all over Lebanon have achieved many achievements, but have not yet been completed. [6:09] It's such words and actions that are reinforcing Hezbollah's popularity among Lebanon's Shia. [6:14] Many believe that nobody else will try to stop Israel from annexing their lands to become [6:19] part of greater Israel, a biblical concept often invoked by Israeli government officials. [6:28] They want greater Israel from the river to the sea. They will not withdraw unless it's through force, [6:34] through resistance. We want resistance. We don't want anything else. Israel won't leave otherwise. [6:41] If I could, I would go fight in the south. Many of Hezbollah's supporters reject the government's [6:46] decision to enter into direct talks with Israel at a time when the IDF still occupies part of the [6:52] country. We reject it, of course. This is not negotiation, but capitulation. Israel doesn't abide [7:02] by agreements or negotiations. And that Israeli insistence on Hezbollah disarmament remains a [7:08] controversial and sensitive subject in Lebanon, one that could ignite internal strife with not one, [7:15] but two ceasefires hanging in the balance. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Simona Fultin in Beirut.