821,000 displaced in Lebanon start returning, UN says

More than 821,000 people displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon had begun returning to their areas of origin by July 30, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said.

OCHA said more than 360,000 people remained displaced, including around 26,000 in government shelters.

The figures came as Lebanon and Israel began a new round of US-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at ending the fighting. The talks are scheduled to run until August 6.

Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in March in support of Iran. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people and displaced more than a million people at the peak.

Violence has decreased since June agreements linked to the wider regional conflict and to Israel-Lebanon talks, but Lebanon continues to report intermittent Israeli strikes, shelling, explosive detonations and demolitions in southern villages. Israeli troops continue to occupy a swathe of southern Lebanon.

OCHA said damage to water and electricity infrastructure from the war has severely affected access to water for more than 700,000 people in south Lebanon, where most people displaced by the war live.

A framework deal agreed during talks in Washington in June involves Hezbollah's disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the region. Hezbollah has rejected the agreement and refuses to disarm.