Published: TUESDAY April 21, 2026: 'The Ruination of Lebanon' by award winning ZUMA Press photo-journalists Daniel Carde and Marwan Naamani: A ceasefire offered hope after weeks of intensified Israeli strikes on Lebanon, but renewed Israeli attacks and the creation of a military boundary similar to the 'Yellow Line' in Gaza are casting doubt on the agreement. Israel resumed large-scale military operations in Lebanon on 2 March 2026. Its stated target is Hezbollah. Israel's goal, already revised, began as the eradication of any possible threat to it for the foreseeable future, from Hezbollah and its sympathizers. UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated that displaced families have begun returning to parts of Beirut's suburbs and southern Lebanon. Aid agencies warn that significant risks remain, including unexploded ordnance in residential areas. 1.2 million people were uprooted during the escalation over 100,000 remain in shelters. Welcome to 'The Ruination of Lebanon'
© zReportage.com Issue #1037 Story of the Week: Published: TUESDAY April 21, 2026: 'The Ruination of Lebanon' by award winning ZUMA Press photo-journalists Daniel Carde and Marwan Naamani: A ceasefire offered hope after weeks of intensified Israeli strikes on Lebanon, but renewed Israeli attacks and the creation of a military boundary similar to the 'Yellow Line' in Gaza are casting doubt on the agreement. Israel resumed large-scale military operations in Lebanon on 2 March 2026. Its stated target is Hezbollah. Israel's goal, already revised, began as the eradication of any possible threat to it for the foreseeable future, from Hezbollah and its sympathizers. UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated that displaced families have begun returning to parts of Beirut's suburbs and southern Lebanon. Aid agencies warn that significant risks remain, including unexploded ordnance in residential areas. 1.2 million people were uprooted during the escalation over 100,000 remain in shelters. Welcome to 'The Ruination of Lebanon'
People flee as black smoke from an Israeli air raid targeting a building in central Beirut billows in the background. Israel started a large-scale attacks on Lebanon that have killed almost 700 people and wounded more than 1700 people, as Iran and Hezbollah launched coordinated waves of attacks on Israel.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
Plumes of smoke rise form an Israeli air strike on Beirut southern suburb, a stronghold of pro-Iranian Hezbollah. More than 900 people were killed and 2, 221 people wounded in Israeli attacks Lebanon, according to the ministry of health.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
Smoke rises from a residential building leveled by an early-morning Israeli attack in central Beirut. At least 12 people have been killed and 41 injured in the Israeli attack on central Beirut.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
UMM ALI, who fled her house in Beirut's southern suburb, covers her face as she sits near mattresses where members of her family are sleeping in downtown. Thousands of Lebanese fled their villages and houses in Beirut's southern suburb, a hotbed for pro-Iranian Hezbollah, following a massive escalation in Israeli airstrikes.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
Eight-year old ZAHRAA ASSAF recovers in a hospital from wounds and burns after an Israeli air raid, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley. Zahraa's father and brother were killed, while her mother is critically wounded. Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East, when Hezbollah opened fire, sparking Israeli airstrikes focused on Beirut's southern suburbs and on southern and eastern Lebanon.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
UNHCR Representative to Lebanon KARLOINA LINDHOLM BILLING hugs an elderly displaced Lebanese woman, who fled her home from the southern village of Shehour, and took refuge in a school in Beirut. UNHCR offered mattresses and blankets to score of displaced Lebanese scattered in schools and streets of the capital.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
KATERINE KASSAB, left, and other children play as her father packs up their belongs where they sheltered on the street at Ramlet al Baida in Beirut. More than a million people were displaced by the war.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
Two men hangout on a courtyard beside a Lebanese flag at the Ras Beirut Secondary Public School converted into a shelter housing displaced people. Many of the displaced Shia community comes from Beirut's southern suburbs.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
A child plays football in front outside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in Beirut. The stadium currently hosts around 750 of the more than 1 million displaced people as Israel intensifies attacks across the country.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
NABI SHEET Mayor Hani al-Moussawi, 68, stands in the debris of a destroyed home after an Israeli attack targets a residential building at Nabi Sheet, Lebanon. On March 7, the Israeli military conducted a helicopter-borne raid into the Nabi Sheet and attempted to recover the body their missing airmen, Ron Arad.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
An internally displaced boy looks out through a window with bars at Hussein Massoud School in Bchamoun, Lebanon. The school is currently sheltering around 300 internally displaced people.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
Hezbollah MP AMIN SHERRI, left, during a press tour at a school-turned-shelter in western Beirut. Sherri met with internally displaced people who currently reside at the shelter and spoke to members of the press.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
An internally displaced child plays on a car beside the tent she is residing at the Waterfront, a seaside promenade in Beirut. More than 1 million people have been displaced in Lebanon, as Israel continues attacks across the country.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
Displaced Lebanese barbers from the southern suburbs cut hair of youths who also fled the pro-Iranian Hezbollah stronghold and took refuge at Beirut water front. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is appealing for USD 19 million to scale up its emergency response in Lebanon.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
Displaced children from south Lebanon and Beirut southern suburb take part in recreational activities organized by volunteers at a local school to celebrate Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic Holy month of Ramadan. More than a million people displaced in Lebanon are facing a somber Eid al-Fitr.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
Displaced Lebanese youths, who fled from south Lebanon and Beirut southern suburb, take part in a workshop as they rehearse for a play called 'We're Returning' directed by Lebanese Qassem Istanbuli. Istanbuli said the play is a form of psychological support for young people who were forced to flee their homes. Every youth will give a part of the experience they endured during the ongoing conflict, he added.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
MOHAMMAD BAKER TAHAN, 12, searches debris after a previous Israeli attack targeted his cousin's home. Mohammad said he was searching for his cousin's toys they use to play with. At least 8 people were killed in the attack. Israeli attacks across the country have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than a million.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
Pro-Iranian Hezbollah Muslim Shiite clerics stand under a huge poster depicting later Khomeini [L], assassinated Spiritual Leader Ayatollah Khamenei [C] handing the Iranian flag to his son Mujtaba, who was elected the new country new leader, during a gathering outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut to protest the Lebanese government decision to expel the Iranian ambassador. Lebanon's Foreign Ministry declared Iran's ambassador to Beirut persona non grata.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
A man, left, holds a portrait of Al-Manar journalist Ali Shoeib and Al Mayadeen assistant producer HASSAN ATTIEH holds a ballistic helmet with a press patch beside a portrait of Al Mayadeen journalist Fatima Ftouni during a solidarity event that started at Martyrs Square and ended at Riad el Solh in Beirut. Ftouni and Shoeib were killed today by the Israeli military who attacked their vehicle while they were driving on a road in Jezzine.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
SOUHAILA, from the Christian village of el-Qaa, in the Bekaa valley in north Lebanon prays during during Palm Sunday Mass procession at a local church of in the village of Fanar, northeast of Beirut. Christian communities across Lebanon observed the holy day amidst a severe displacement crisis caused by intensified regional conflict. at least 750 Christian families, have been displaced, leading to an appeal by Lebanese officials to the Vatican to protect the Christian presence in border.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
A truck delivering aid from L'Oeuvre d'Orient i is unloaded at the Holy Family Church in Hajje. A visit by Papal envoy, Italian prelate of the Catholic Church Borgia came and met with internally displaced Lebanese at a nearby shelter and helped deliver aid for the displaced.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
KASSEM BADRAN, a 12-year-old displaced boy, sits inside a car with his mother and other family members as they prepare to return to their home in the devastated Beirut southern suburb despite Israeli warning and constant air raids on the pro-Iranian Hezbollah bastion. Bad weather and harsh living conditions forced the family to take decision to return home. Since the latest escalation began more than 1.2 million people have been displaced.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
A displaced family gathers around a bonfire outside their tent shelter at Beirut water front. In just one month since the latest escalation began more than 1.2 million people have been displaced and registered on the government online platform representing nearly one-fifth of the country's population.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
A Lebanese family waits inside a car along a highway that leads to south Lebanon at the area of Jiyeh. Thousands of Lebanese families displaced by fighting started the journey of returning to their villages after a 10-day cease-fire in Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah went into effect.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
A displaced girl and her brother, who fled with their family from south Lebanon, play at their tent turned into makeshift home along Beirut Mediterranean seafront. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced from their villages and homes when Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East conflict.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
UNIFIL soldiers witha UN armoured vehicle patrol a street in Qlayaa. At least three UNIFIL soldiers have been killed since the war intensified in early March.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
Priest ANTONIO FARAH carries a crucifix around the church during the Easter Sunday Mass at Saint Georges in Qlayaa. This was the first mass after the church's previous priest was killed by an Israeli attack.
© Daniel Carde/ZUMA Press Wire
RYMONDA, right, sister of Christian Lebanese forces official Pierre Mouawad, mourns with other relatives as she walks in front the coffin of her brother and wife Flavia during their funeral procession in the village of Yahshoush, northeast of Beirut. Mouawad, his wife and another woman were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment Sunday 05 April.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
Mourners dance in mourning with the coffin of Christian Lebanese forces official Pierre Mouawad in the village of Yahshoush, northeast of Beirut. Mouawad, his wife and another woman were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment Sunday 05 April.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
OMAR KAMOURIEH and his daughter LARA, stand among the wreckage of a building where they used to live at Beirut sea front. Rescue operations are still ongoing, with one girl still missing. Civil defense workers were able to lift the bodies of three people from debris of the building that collapsed in the Israeli strike 08 April. At least 350 people were killed in Israeli deadly raids across Lebanon in a single day.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
People salvage belongings from their destroyed cars piled on top of dozens of other burned vehicles at the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut. Lebanon and Israel are holding their first direct diplomatic talks in more than 30 years. The talks are aimed at preparing negotiations to resolve Israel's conflict with pro-Iranian Hezbollah.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire
