More than 800,000 people displaced by the war between Israel and Hezbollah have begun returning to their areas of origin, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday. According to OCHA, 821,077 people had started the return as of 30 July, while over 360,000 remain displaced, around 26,000 of them in government shelters. The announcement came as Lebanon and Israel opened a new round of U.S.-sponsored talks in Rome, scheduled to run until Thursday, aimed at ending the fighting.

Violence has decreased since the signing in June of a preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement on the wider regional conflict, which includes a ceasefire in Lebanon, and following a U.S.-sponsored deal between Israel and Lebanon. However, Lebanon continues to report intermittent Israeli strikes and shelling, as well as detonations of explosives and demolitions in southern villages, with Israeli troops occupying a swathe of the area. 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, the region that saw the largest displacement.

During negotiations in Washington in June, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a framework deal that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as "pilot zones". The first pilot zone includes the town of Zaktar al-Gharbiya and the villages of Frun and Srifa, according to Interfax. The U.S. State Department has called the start of the pilot zone project successful, but Lebanese authorities have accused Israel of actions that hinder implementation.

Hezbollah has rejected the framework agreement and refuses to disarm. The group's leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said the direct negotiations will bring "nothing but shame, humiliation, and successive compromises" for Lebanon. The talks in Rome are the seventh round of direct negotiations under U.S. auspices, and Lebanese officials are seeking Israeli withdrawals from additional areas in the south. The next steps depend on whether the pilot zone model can be expanded, with discussions expected this week on designating further areas for implementation.