Lebanese officials said that Israeli forces killed 22 people in southern Lebanon and injured over 124 more on Sunday after protesters called for their withdrawal by a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.
In a press release, the Health Ministry said that among those killed were two women and an army soldier from Lebanon.
Demonstrators carrying Hezbollah banners tried to enter villages in protest of Israel’s failure in the 60-day deadline set in the ceasefire agreement which ended the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in late November.
Israel announced on Friday that it would extend the deadline for the withdrawal of troops from the south past Sunday because the Lebanese Army had not fully deployed. This is to prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing its presence in this area. Lebanon’s U.S.-backed military said that it could not deploy until Israeli troops departed and accused Israel of being slow in its withdrawal.
Hezbollah was blamed by the Israeli army for stirring up protests on Sunday.
In a press release, it said that its troops had fired warning shots to “remove any threats from a number areas where suspected were approaching.” It said that several suspects were arrested and questioned near Israeli troops.
Israel prevented thousands of Palestinians on Sunday from returning home to northern Gaza, claiming that Hamas had violated a fragile truce by altering the order in which it released hostages.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated in a Sunday statement to the people of Southern Lebanon that “Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integration are non-negotiable and I will follow up on this matter at the highest level to ensure your dignity and rights.”
He asked them to “exercise restraint and have faith in the Lebanese Armed Forces.” In a separate press release, the Lebanese Army said that it was escorting civils into certain towns along the border and urged residents to adhere to military orders to ensure their safety.
Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Parliament, who is the leader of the Amal Movement, which is aligned with Hezbollah, and served as the mediator between the militants and the U.S. in the ceasefire negotiations said that the bloodshed on Sunday was “a clear and urgent appeal for the international community” to act immediately to compel Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territory.
Avichay Adraee, an Arabic-language spokesperson of the Israeli military posted on X, that Hezbollah sent “rioters”, and was “trying” to “heat the situation to cover its status and situation in Lebanon and the Arab World.”
He warned the residents of the border region not to try to return to their villages.
The IDF has no intention of targeting you. Therefore, at this time you are not allowed to return to your home from this line to the south until further notice. “Anyone who moves south from this line exposes themselves to danger,” said he.
In a joint press release, the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis Plaschaert, and the UNIFIL head of mission, Lieutenant General Aroldo Lazaro called on both Israel and Lebanon, to adhere to their respective obligations under the ceasefire accord.
The statement said, “The timelines envisaged by the November Understanding were not met.” As tragically demonstrated this morning, the conditions for the safe return of citizens along the Blue Line are still not in place.
UNIFIL warned that any further violence could undermine the fragile security conditions in the region and the “hopes of stability brought about by the cessation and formation of a Government in Lebanon.”
The report called for the withdrawal of all Israeli troops and the removal of unauthorized weapons and assets to the south of the Litani River. It also demanded the redeployment and deployment of the Lebanese Army in the entire south of Lebanon, and the return of civilians who had been displaced on both sides.
The AP team spent the night at a UNIFIL facility near Mays al-Jabal after Israeli soldiers erected roadblocks while they were on a peacekeepers’ patrol. They reported gunshots, booming noises, and other sounds coming from the base on Sunday morning. Peacekeepers confirmed that there were dozens of demonstrators nearby.
Families in the village of Aita al Shaab searched for the remnants of their homes that they had left behind. There were no Israeli forces present.
Hussein Bajouk said, “These are our homes,” one of the returning residents. “However many they destroy, will rebuild.”
Bajouk said that he believes that Hassan Nasrallah is still alive, even though he was killed by an Israeli strike on Beirut’s south suburbs in September.
He said, “I don’t know how long we’re going wait – another month or two… But the Sayyed is coming out to speak,” using Nasrallah’s honorific.
Orna Weinberg, who lives in the kibbutz Manara on the other border, surveyed the destruction caused by the recent conflict with her neighbors as well as the Lebanese village on the other frontier. Gunfire could be heard in the distance.
“Unfortunately, we have no way of defending our children without harming their children,” Weinberg, 58, said. “It’s a tragedy to all sides.”
Out of the 1 million Lebanese who fled their homes in the war, 112,000 remain displaced.
