More than 821,000 people displaced by the war in Lebanon have reported returning to their areas of origin, although hundreds of thousands remain unable to go home, according to the United Nations.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 821,077 people had returned by 30 July, following a significant reduction in fighting.

Another 360,132 people remained displaced, including about 26,000 living in government-run collective shelters, OCHA’s latest update said.

The figures record people returning to their towns and villages but do not establish whether their homes remain habitable or whether the return will be permanent.

Many families have found destroyed houses, damaged roads, limited electricity and water supplies, and businesses or farmland they can no longer access.

A preliminary assessment cited by OCHA found that war damage to water and electricity infrastructure had disrupted drinking-water access for more than 700,000 people in southern Lebanon.

Nearly 90,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during the conflict, according to Lebanese government figures previously reported by Reuters.

The latest war began in March after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader during US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Israel responded with extensive air strikes and a ground offensive in Lebanon.

More than 1.2 million people — about one-fifth of Lebanon’s population — were displaced at the height of the fighting.

Violence has declined since a ceasefire took effect in June, but the calm remains fragile. Lebanon continues to report Israeli air strikes, artillery fire, demolitions and controlled explosions in southern villages.

Israeli forces also remain in parts of southern Lebanon, preventing some residents from reaching their communities. Others have returned despite severe damage and the risk posed by unexploded ordnance.

The displacement figures were published as Lebanon and Israel began a seventh round of US-facilitated negotiations in Rome. The talks started on Tuesday and are scheduled to continue until Thursday, according to the US State Department.

Lebanon is seeking further Israeli withdrawals and the restoration of government authority across the south.

A framework agreement reached in June links the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces to the verified disarmament of armed groups and the deployment of the Lebanese army. Implementation began in designated “pilot zones”, including Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh.

Hezbollah was not a party to the agreement and has refused to surrender its weapons. Its secretary-general, Naim Qassem, said the direct negotiations would bring Lebanon “nothing but shame, humiliation and successive compromises”.

The continuing displacement shows that reduced fighting has not ended Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis. For many families, returning to their communities is only the beginning of a prolonged struggle to secure shelter, water, electricity and the means to rebuild their lives.