Fishers at a Lebanese port hope ceasefire with Israel means normal life is returning

TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah brought hope for normality back to many in southern Lebanon on Friday, including fishermen who have long launched their single-engine wooden boats into the Mediterranean at dawn.

During the last two months of its year fighting Hezbollah, Israel imposed a siege on southern Lebanon that kept hundreds of fishers at this ancient Phoenician port on shore, upending their lives and the industry.

While less important than destruction and displacement, the port siege cut many people off from the key ingredients for traditional Lebanese dishes like sayadiyeh — fish and rice boiled in fish sauce — or fried and grilled fish eaten with dips such as hummus and tabbouleh or fattoush salads.

The loss of fish damaged a deep association with home, but now the possibility of renewed Lebanese fishing on the country’s southern coast is helping fuel hope for a brighter future.

On Friday, a few boats went out close to the shore as fishers in the port worked on the nets of small boats painted white, blue or red.

Hussein Sukmani, 55, said Friday that he was considering going to sea in coming days but was waiting to see how things unfold.

He hasn’t dared set sail since the Israel-Hezbollah war dramatically intensified on Sept. 23. “They were days of fear and horror,” he said. “They were the most difficult days of our lives.”

A week ago, a drone strike killed two young fishers in the city as they prepared their nets on the coast, and some fishermen said Friday that the Lebanese army told them that they if headed out it would be at their own risk .

Among those who sailed near the coast on Friday was Walid Darwish, who returned to the port with two plastic boxes filled with mullet.

“Today is the first time that we sail,” Darwish said, adding that fishers had missed the prime season in October and November.

“We lost it,” he said.

The Israeli army barred any boats from an area 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the border in October and has not said whether the warning is still in effect.

Sukmani said that most of the 700 fishers who work on the 270 boats at the port have not sailed out of concern since then.

The area around the port is a predominantly Christian neighborhood that has been spared much of the airstrikes on other parts of Tyre that leveled buildings in this city.

In peaceful times, the port is a major tourist attraction, beloved by Lebanese and foreigners who come for the views, the restaurants and the beaches.

On Friday, Mohammed Hammoud walked along the coast of Tyre carrying his fishing rod.

“It is enough that someone is able to stand in this beautiful area,” he said, pointing to the white sands. “Fishing is everything for me,” added Hammoud, who went to fish several times in the area north of the city of Sidon that was not part of the siege.

In the old market of Tyre, Gilbert Spiridon watched from inside his shop as people came to buy freshly brought fish. Before the war, it took hours to sell all his fish to people from around Lebanon.

“All I wish is that the war has ended and we are back on track to the old good days,” he said.