The scrawled messages give insight into the battles that erupted after Israel launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon in October 2024, months after Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Residents of southern Lebanon have been gradually returning to their villages to find their homes heavily damaged by the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Peppered throughout homes in the village of Khiam are notes in Arabic written by Hezbollah fighters or their supporters after Israeli forces withdrew earlier this month.
“Wish we lost everything and you stayed, Sayyed,” referring to Hezbollah's longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli strikes in southern Beirut in September.
And still other messages appear intended to leave a personal mark: “Congratulations, mom,” scrawled in dark red on a bright pink bedroom wall, above a bed piled with belongings and near a photo of a local couple.
