People uprooted by the war in Lebanon began returning to devastated towns and neighbourhoods on Friday, with many finding their homes destroyed or uninhabitable and hesitant to stay for fear a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel could unravel.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States had banned Israel from further bombing in Lebanon, a day after he announced the 10-day ceasefire. The agreement between Lebanon and Israel has added to optimism that the parallel war between the United States and Iran could be nearing an end.

While Trump says Lebanon and Israel will work towards a longer-term deal, the ceasefire leaves big questions. Notably, it does not demand Israel withdraw soldiers occupying parts of the south, where Israel’s defence minister said Israeli troops would continue to demolish homes he claimed were being used by Hezbollah. Iran-backed Hezbollah, which operates independently of the Lebanese state, has said it maintains “the right to resist”.

In the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, hills of rubble stood where there had once been apartment blocks and the smell of death hung in the air. Ali Hamza said he found his home intact, but that people were scared to return for now.

“It is impossible to live in these circumstances, and with these smells. A full return is difficult now, despite the hardship of displacement.” He had gathered school books from the house: “We lost everything; we don’t want them to lose the school year.”

In Qasmiyeh in southern Lebanon, cars were driving across a makeshift crossing over the Litani River, hastily erected after the ceasefire came into effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT). Israel destroyed all the bridges over the Litani during the war, blowing up the one at Qasmiyeh on Thursday.

Hezbollah expressed “cautious commitment” to the ceasefire on Friday, but said it must ensure that all Israeli hostilities stop and limit the Israeli military’s “freedom of movement” in Lebanon. The group’s lawmakers also said the ceasefire “was primarily achieved due to Iranian pressure”.

Lebanon was dragged into war on March 2, when Hezbollah opened fire at Israel in support of Iran, sparking an Israeli offensive that authorities say has killed nearly 2,300 people and displaced 1.2 million, just 16 months after the last Hezbollah-Israel war. Hezbollah’s Shi’ite Muslim constituents have borne the brunt once again.

Earlier, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said territory south of the Litani, which meets the Mediterranean 30 km (20 miles) north of the Israeli border, had yet to be cleared of Hezbollah militants and arms.

“This will have to be done politically or through the continuation of the IDF’s military activity after the ceasefire ends,” he said.

Katz said Israeli forces would continue to hold seized territory, saying Israel had established a “security zone” extending 10 km (6 miles) into Lebanon.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, whose administration this week held Beirut’s highest-level contact with Israel in decades, said Lebanon faced “sensitive and pivotal” negotiations with Israel.

He said his focus was to ensure he ceasefire stood, Israel withdrew, and prisoners were released.

The Lebanese government has sought Hezbollah’s peaceful disarmament for a year, and banned its military activities on March 2. Any move by the Lebanese state to disarm Hezbollah by force would risk conflict in a country shattered by civil war from 1975 to 1990.

Israel’s main demand remained that Hezbollah must be dismantled, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.