ISLAMABAD (AP) — Authorities reopened roads linking Pakistan's capital with the rest of the country, ending a four-day lockdown, on Wednesday after using tear gas and firing into the air to disperse supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan who marched to Islamabad to demand his release from prison.
“All roads are being reopened, and the demonstrators have been dispersed," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said.
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Workers clean an area near the damaged vehicles left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Traffic police officers remove a damaged vehicle left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Scavengers look useful stuff from a burnt container, which was used by leaders of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, for speech and left behind when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
People look at the damaged vehicles left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard along roadside to ensure security in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A poster of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan is displayed on a damaged vehicle left behind by supporters of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party after clashes with security forces the night before, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Workers clean an area near the damaged vehicles left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Scavengers look useful stuff from a burnt container which was used by leaders of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party for speech and left behind when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A motorcyclist drives through the damaged vehicles left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard along roadside to ensure security in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was leading the protest, and other demonstrators fled in vehicles when police pushed back against the rallygoers following clashes in which at least seven people were killed.
The police operation came hours after thousands of Khan supporters, defying government warnings, broke through a barrier of shipping containers blocking off Islamabad and entered a high-security zone, where they clashed with security forces.
Tension has been high in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former prime minister began a “long march” from the restive northwest to demand his release. Khan has been in a prison for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases that his party says are politically motivated.
Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested since Sunday.
Bibi and leaders of her husband's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party fled to Mansehra in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the party still rules.
Khan, who remains a popular opposition figure, was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament.
Workers clean an area near the damaged vehicles left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Traffic police officers remove a damaged vehicle left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Scavengers look useful stuff from a burnt container, which was used by leaders of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, for speech and left behind when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
People look at the damaged vehicles left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard along roadside to ensure security in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A poster of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan is displayed on a damaged vehicle left behind by supporters of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party after clashes with security forces the night before, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Workers clean an area near the damaged vehicles left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Scavengers look useful stuff from a burnt container which was used by leaders of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party for speech and left behind when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A motorcyclist drives through the damaged vehicles left behind by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party when security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse them, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard along roadside to ensure security in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Long-displaced residents of south Lebanon started returning to their homes amid celebrations hours after a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group took effect early Wednesday morning.
The ceasefire has brought relief across the tiny Mediterranean nation, coming after days of some of the most intense airstrikes and clashes since the war began, though many wondered if the agreement to stop fighting would hold. Israel has said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the ceasefire agreement, which was announced Tuesday.
Hundreds of cars made their way into southern Lebanon, defying a warning from the Israeli military to stay away from previously evacuated areas.
At least 42 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to local authorities. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens in the country’s north.
The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire marks the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but it does not address the devastating war in Gaza.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after Hamas’ attack. The fighting in Lebanon escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across the country and an Israeli ground invasion of the south.
In Gaza, more than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 wounded in the nearly 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
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BEIRUT — The Lebanese military asked displaced people returning to southern Lebanon to avoid frontline villages and towns near the border where the Israeli military is still present until the troops withdraw.
Thousands of people have been returning to other previously evacuated areas in south Lebanon in defiance of an Israeli warning to avoid all previously evacuated areas. Many of those areas were hit by strikes just hours before the ceasefire took effect.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Tehran's main militant partner in the Mideast.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei praised the ceasefire in a statement Wednesday morning.
Baghaei said that Iran still sought a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. But like Hezbollah, it's dropped the demand that a ceasefire also take place at the same time in the Gaza Strip.
He also called for the International Criminal Court to try the “criminals of the occupying regime,” referring to Israel. The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s former defense minister.
TYRE, Lebanon — Displaced people started returning to the coastal city of Tyre on motorcycles and in cars early Wednesday, defying an Israeli military warning to stay away from previously evacuated areas.
Ahmad Husseini said returning to southern Lebanon was an “indescribable feeling” and praised Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, who led Lebanon’s negotiations with Washington. “He made us and everyone proud.”
Husseini, who earlier fled a town near the coastal city, spoke to The Associated Press while in his car with family members.
Meanwhile, sporadic celebratory gunfire could be heard at a main roundabout in the city, as people returning honked the horns of cars — some piled with mattresses — and residents cheered.
A couple of men shouted slogans praising slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.
Hussein Sweidan said he sees the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah. “This is a moment of victory, pride and honor for us, the Shia sect, and for all of Lebanon,” he said.
BEIRUT — As dawn broke in Beirut, plumes of smoke were visible rising from places hit by Israeli strikes before the ceasefire took effect at 4 a.m. Residents of Lebanon’s capital and its southern suburbs endured the most intense day of strikes since the war began on Tuesday.
BEIRUT — As the ceasefire went into effect early Wednesday, much of Lebanon was quiet for the first time since late September, following weeks of intense overnight strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon.
Some celebratory gunshots could be heard in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs, battered over the past two months.
Israel’s Arabic military spokesperson Avichay Adraee has warned displaced Lebanese not to return to their villages in southern Lebanon, but some videos circulating on social media show displaced Lebanese defying these calls and returning to villages in the south near the coastal city of Tyre.
Israeli troops are still present in parts of southern Lebanon after Israel launched a ground invasion in October.
Lebanese have also been displaced from other parts of the country, notably the southern Beirut suburbs and the eastern Bekaa province. It’s unclear how long it will take cash-strapped Lebanon to rebuild these bombarded neighborhoods.
The war has displaced some 1.2 million people, according to the Lebanese government.
JERUSALEM — As the ceasefire took effect early Wednesday, Israel’s military warned people with homes in areas of south Lebanon that it ordered evacuated to stay away for now.
Israeli military spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee issued the warning on the social platform X.
“You are prohibited from heading towards the villages that the IDF has ordered to be evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area,” Adraee wrote, using an acronym for the Israeli military. “For your safety and the safety of your family members, refrain from moving to the area.”
There were no immediate signs of renewed fighting as the ceasefire took hold early Wednesday morning.
The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants has begun as a region on edge wonders whether it will hold.
The ceasefire announced Tuesday is a major step toward ending nearly 14 months of fighting sparked by the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
Israel has said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the ceasefire agreement.
The ceasefire calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. An international panel led by the United States will monitor compliance.
The ceasefire began at 4 a.m. Wednesday, a day after Israel carried out its most intense wave of airstrikes in Beirut since the start of the conflict that in recent weeks turned into all-out war.
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Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Rescuers use an excavator as they search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man runs next to an ambulance arriving at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescuers search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People in their cars return back to their villages after the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A woman waves a Hezbollah flag as she celebrates a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel which began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Lebanese family returns back to their village with their belongings after a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People in their cars with belongings return back to their villages after a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
In this image made from video, smoke is seen amid buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo)
A Civil Defense worker distributes safety fliers to people returning back to their villages after the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People hug each other upon their arrival at their building after the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A man who is returning to his village waves as he carries his belongings on his car after the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
