And if Lebanon hopes to reclaim the hearts and minds to the south from Hezbollah, this time it cannot, and must not, under any circumstances allow Iran to assert itself in Lebanese politics.

The thousands of displaced Lebanese who had fled their towns and villages in the onslaught of Israel's attacks piled their mattresses, bundles of clothes, gaggles of children and joined one of the largest traffic jams in the world as they headed back south to what is left of their homes.

Close to one million Lebanese have been displaced in one way or another; the luckier ones will have a home to go to while the others will return to piles of rubble they once called home.

The trek south was rendered difficult due to the poor state of the roads, most of which were bombed by Israel's war planes, along with most of the country's bridges.

In some places long queues of cars lined up on a highway leading to the south only to realize that the bridge ahead was cut off by Israeli air strikes. The refugees resorted to erecting make-shift bridges by placing makeshift metal plates and mounds of rubble and debris over the holes.

Rescue teams from the Lebanese Red Cross and Civil Defense were the first to head to the villages which were completely isolated by the fighting to evacuate residents who were stuck in their homes and remove victims still buried under the rubble.

Many of the returning refugees who defied Israeli warnings not to cross back south of the Litani River brandished Hezbollah's flags and posters of its chief, Hassan Nasrallah.

According to unofficial estimates, around 1 million people have been displaced by the fighting. Some 25,000 returned in the first hours after the cease-fire went into effect Monday morning.

"If we don't find our home still standing, we will live in tents on our land instead of being refugees in public schools and parks," one of the returnees told United Press International.

After spending six hours on the road to his village of Qalayleh -- a trip which usually takes one hour, Abou Khalil said "although my house has been crushed to the ground, I will put up a tent on my land and stay in it, instead of staying in Beirut and suffering from displacement."

Youssef Kanso, 55, a resident of Qana, a national symbol of Lebanese civilian casualties since 1996, said "our town paid the price twice," in reference to the massacres of women, children and elderly two weeks ago and in 1996.

"I hope the war will end for ever, but I don't think our children will ever forget the massacres that occurred in this village and the pictures of the bodies of babies removed from under the rubble," Kanso added.

Hours before the displaced arrived in their embattled villages, army units and Civil Defense teams started clearing the roads from hundreds of mines dropped by Israeli warplanes a day before the cease-fire went into effect.

The rescue teams warned the returnees against touching any unusual or suspicious bodies which conceal explosives set to go off the minute they are touched.

In the meantime, bulldozers manned by Civil Defense teams started removing the rubble of destroyed buildings and shelters in the hope of finding survivors.

Civil Defense official Naim Rakka said "I don't think we will find survivors, but we might be able to pull out bodies, and I believe there are 22 corpses still buried under the rubble in the village of Sarifa only.

"I also believe that the valleys and woods are full of bodies," Rakka said in reference to Hezbollah fighters who battled against Israeli troops outside the villages.

The onus is now on the Lebanese government to provide assistance and social services to the Shiite residents of the south before Hezbollah does.

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