A T FIRST the mood in Lebanon was jubilant. Thousands of people jumped into their cars and drove south on the morning of November 27th, hours after a ceasefire ended the year-long war between Israel and Hizbullah, a Shia militia. They were eager to return to homes from which they had fled months earlier.

The IDF said it conducted a strike on military infrastructure sites near the border crossings between Lebanon and Syria, calling it a response to cease-fire violations.