SOUTHERN LEBANON, October 25–26, 2026 — Vendors sell goods beside damaged buildings in Nabatieh, while residents in nearby Zawtar el Gharbiyeh attempt to restore everyday routines amid destroyed homes and infrastructure.
Thomas Noonan’s photographs move between the city’s Monday market and villages overlooking the Litani valley. They show traders working from vehicles, security personnel in damaged streets, a shattered mosque minaret and residents living and working among the rubble.
Zawtar el Gharbiyeh became an early test of a “pilot zone” arrangement intended to combine Israeli withdrawal with Lebanese army deployment. The Lebanese army announced that its units began deploying there on July 21.
October reporting described continuing obstacles to return, including damaged water and electricity networks, difficulties reaching agricultural land and Israeli military positions nearby. Residents and municipal officials said much of the work of making homes habitable remained dependent on families’ own resources.
In Nabatieh, the photographs record commercial activity continuing beside extensive destruction. Infrastructure needs were also the subject of an October 14 meeting between the municipality and Lebanon’s Council for Development and Reconstruction.
Together, the images document the practical challenges of return: finding shelter, restoring services and earning a living in a landscape still marked by war.
