Israeli forces killed 22 people in southern Lebanon on Sunday as the deadline for their withdrawal passed and thousands of people tried to return to their homes in defiance of Israeli military orders, Lebanese authorities said.
Israel said on Friday it would keep troops in the south beyond the Sunday deadline set in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that ended last year’s war with Hezbollah, saying Lebanon had the terms under which South Lebanon must be free of Hezbollah weapons, not yet fully enforced. Lebanese army should be deployed.
The US-backed Lebanese military, which on Sunday reported one of its soldiers among those killed by Israeli forces, has accused Israel of delaying its withdrawal.
The Hezbollah-Israel conflict was fought in parallel with the Gaza War and culminated in a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than a million people in Lebanon and severely weakened the Iranian-backed group.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said 22 people were killed and another 124 injured in numerous locations in the south as a result of Israeli attacks on citizens trying to enter their still-occupied cities.
The Israeli military said its troops operating in southern Lebanon “fired warning shots to eliminate threats in a number of areas where suspects were identified who approached the troops.” It also said that “a number of suspects… “who posed an imminent threat” were arrested.
Hezbollah Al-Manar television, broadcasting from several locations in the south, showed footage of residents marching toward villages early Sunday, some holding the group’s flag, as well as images of Hezbollah fighters killed in the war .
An Israeli military spokesman addressed the issue in a post
Hezbollah has given the Lebanese state responsibility for ensuring Israel’s withdrawal.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanon was committed to the ceasefire agreement but Israel had opposed it with U.S. support. The White House said Friday that a short, temporary extension of the ceasefire was urgently needed.
Call for the Lebanese Army to be deployed in villages
“What is happening in the border villages is a liberation through the power of the people, and our people will not be broken by the Israeli army,” he told Reuters. “We want the state to play its full role and the army to be stationed in the villages.”
“We are working with him to facilitate his mission.”
The top U.N. official in Lebanon and the head of U.N. peacekeepers in the south said conditions for the safe return of Lebanese citizens to villages near the border “do not yet exist.” “The fact is that the timelines provided for in the ceasefire have not been adhered to,” it said in a statement.
The agreement set a 60-day timeline for implementation.
President Joseph Aoun, Lebanon’s army commander until parliament elected him head of state on Jan. 9, urged people in the south to exercise self-restraint and trust the Lebanese military.
“Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable and I am pursuing this issue at the highest level to ensure your rights and dignity,” he said in a statement.
Israel has not said how long its forces will remain in the south, where the Israeli military says it has seized weapons from Hezbollah and dismantled its infrastructure.
Israel said its offensive against Hezbollah was aimed at securing the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis who were forced to leave their homes at the border by Hezbollah rocket fire.
Hezbollah opened fire in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas at the start of the Gaza War on October 8, 2023.
