Ceasefire with Israel brings respite to Lebanon, but obstacles to peace remain

At the stroke of midnight, gunfire and fireworks celebrated the start of the ceasefire in Beirut. Throughout the morning, smiling crowds gathered along roads leading to Lebanon's south, the heartland of Hezbollah, playing revolutionary music and waving the group's yellow flag as they started their journey back to where they had been forced from by...

At the stroke of midnight, gunfire and fireworks celebrated the start of the ceasefire in Beirut.

Throughout the morning, smiling crowds gathered along roads leading to Lebanon's south, the heartland of Hezbollah, playing revolutionary music and waving the group's yellow flag as they started their journey back to where they had been forced from by the war.

This is, initially, a 10-day ceasefire after six weeks of a devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Muslim militia and political party. But it brings some respite for a country exhausted by the war.

More than 2,100 people have been killed, Lebanese health authorities say, and over a million, or roughly one in five of the population, have been displaced - creating a pressing humanitarian crisis.