The BBCThe family of four stood in the middle of the street in front of a pile of twisted metal and broken concrete, struggling to comprehend the devastation they were witnessing.
The building was destroyed by a recent Israeli airstrike and smoke was still rising from the rubble. The next building on the right was partially collapsed. There was a large hole above the one behind it.
They continued toward the building where they lived, in Tire in southern Lebanon. Hours after a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, the displaced family was back. No one seemed to be staying in their house.
Due to the lack of electricity, he climbed the stairs and reached the sixth floor with the help of flashlights on his phone.
Muhammad Maruf led his wife and two sons. He tried to open the main door. When he finally got inside, he immediately realized that his home as he knew it was gone, for now.
“I’m very sad, it’s a nice and decent house,” said Mr Maruf, a car dealer. “There’s just so much damage done.”
Panels fell from the ceiling. Windows, doors and furniture were destroyed. In the kitchen, cups and plates are broken on the floor. There was dust and debris everywhere. In the living room, he mourned the things that were now beyond repair, and celebrated the things that somehow remained intact.
Mr Maruf said that the destruction was caused by an attack on a nearby residential building. It was so powerful that even his building was severely damaged.
“I don’t know what to do,” he said. They were staying with her brother, and didn’t know when they would be able to go back.
On Tyre’s beachfront, a yellow banner with Hezbollah’s logo hung next to one of several residential buildings that had been targeted. It said, “Made in the USA,” referring to the bombs that may have been used in the attack.
After a lull in the fighting, residents returned to badly damaged homes. All day Wednesday there was a steady stream of cars, packed with families, bags and mattresses.
Some people waved Hezbollah flags. Sporadic celebratory gunshots could be heard in the distance. Many supporters say the ceasefire is a sign of victory for the group. The “resistance,” as he often refers to Hezbollah, blocked the Israeli army’s advance on the ground, he says, and Israel failed to achieve its goals in Lebanon.
This is a narrative that will be found very rarely – if at all – anywhere else.
Hezbollah is weakened, large parts of the country lie in ruins, and many people, including those who accuse the group of dragging Lebanon into a conflict that is not in its best interest. I was not, saying that war has only caused death and destruction.
According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, about 4,000 people were killed and more than 16,000 injured.
The conflict began last October when Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing on Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza, and escalated dramatically in September, with heavy Israeli airstrikes killing several top Hezbollah leaders. Killings, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, and a ground attack in the south.
Israel’s stated goal was to remove the group from the border and allow the return of some 60,000 residents who had been displaced.
The Israeli bombardment was mostly on Shia Muslim areas of the country, which were mainly controlled by Hezbollah. More than a million people were forced to leave their homes.
A 60-day moratorium is now in place as part of a ceasefire agreement, which many hope will end the conflict. Under its terms, Israel and Hezbollah would withdraw from the south, Hezbollah’s traditional stronghold, and the Lebanese army would deploy an additional 5,000 troops to the area.
In the morning, Hezbollah organized a tour for journalists to show the damage around Tire, a sign that they are still very much there – and in control.
“We are invincible,” said Hezbollah MP Hossein Jashi from the rubble of a water pumping station destroyed in an airstrike.
“All this destruction is worthless if you have pride and dignity. This [destruction] A man cannot be defeated as long as he has the will to fight.”
One of the stops on the tour was Dade Badawi’s restaurant, which opened 80 years ago.
“They destroy, we rebuild. It was a beautiful restaurant, and I love it,” he said. “I’ll make it even more beautiful.”
Next door, Mr. Yasser, who did not want to give his full name, was cleaning his corner shop, which had reopened for the first time.
“I’m very emotional. You can’t describe the loss and the loss of people,” he said.
“This is not the Tire we know. We lost many loved ones. But now we will be reunited with those who are still alive, and wait and see what happens next.
Recovery will be difficult and expensive. No one knows how it will happen, and who will pay.
Car dealer Mr Maruf expected Hezbollah to help him repair the damage. May God protect us all, he said.