Construction workers unload breeze-blocks to rebuild a property in the southern Lebanese village of Marun al-Ras on July 8, 2008. Lebanese families are attempting to rebuild their homes as Lebanon gets set to mark the second anniversary of the 34-day summer conflict with Israel that saw many southern Lebanese villages devastated in bombing raids Photo by: AFP PHOTO/MAHMOUD ZAYAT

Haidar Ayub's once-beautiful house lies in ruins, with images of skulls -- the emblem of the Israeli unit which stormed the village -- emblazoned on the walls, which are pockmarked by shrapnel and bullet holes.

Israeli troops based their headquarters in his family home after sweeping into the village, just 100 metres (yards) from the UN blue line which demarcates the Israeli-Lebanese border. The Israeli military launched a massive offensive on Lebanon on July 12, 2006 after guerrillas from Hezbollah carried out a deadly cross-border raid and captured two Israeli soldiers.

The 34-day conflict killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, while 160 Israelis were killed, most of whom were soldiers.

Memories of the bloodshed remain for the inhabitants of Marun ar-Ras but the struggle to remake their lives has to go on. "Most of the village's 500 homes were seriously damaged and a further 159 were reduced to dust by Israeli air force bombing raids," Marun ar-Ras mayor Mustafa Alaweya told AFP.
Most of the 6,000 inhabitants fled and some have yet to return.

Kuwaiti parliament speaker Jassem al-Khorafi has spearheaded the project to rebuild Lebanon's damaged villages, using donations from several countries in the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.