Israeli forces kill 15 people in south Lebanon as residents try to return, Lebanese authorities say
Israeli forces killed 15 people in Southern Lebanon On Sunday, with the end of the deadline for their withdrawal, thousands of people tried to return to their homes in a challenge Israeli military ordersThe Lebanese authorities said.
And Israel announced on Friday that it would keep its forces in the south until after the deadline set on Sunday USA Which stopped the war last year with Hezbollah, saying that Lebanon was not ful Liberation from Hezbollah The spread of the Lebanese weapons and army.
On Sunday, the Lebanese army, backed by the United States, who announced that one of its soldiers was killed by Israeli forces on Sunday, accused Israel of stalling its withdrawal.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has been contested in parallel with the war in Gaza, and its climax in a major Israeli attack led to the displacement of more than a million people in Lebanon and left the Iranian -backed group in a state of severe weakness.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that 15 people were killed and 83 others were injured in several locations in the south as a result of what it described as Israeli attacks on citizens while trying to enter their occupied towns.
The Israeli army said that its forces “operating in southern Lebanon launched warning shots to remove threats in a number of areas where the suspects who approach the forces were identified.” She also said that “a number of suspects … who posed an imminent threat.”
The Al -Manar channel of Hezbollah, which broadcasts its programs from several locations in the south, offered footage to a resident who move Towards the villages early on SundaySome of them carry the science of the group and the pictures of Hezbollah fighters who were killed in the war.
An Israeli military spokesman, addressing the residents of southern Lebanon in a post on X channel, accused Hezbollah of trying to “heat the situation” and said that the Israeli army would reach them “in the near future” with the places they could return to.
Hezbollah has put responsibility for the Lebanese state to ensure the withdrawal of Israel.
Hezbollah’s deputy, Hassan Fadlallah, said that Lebanon is committed to the ceasefire agreement, but Israel turned against it with American support. The White House said on Friday that there was an urgent need for a short and temporary extension of the ceasefire.
“What is happening in the border villages is the liberation of the power of the people and our people will not be broken in front of the Israeli army,” he told Reuters. We want the state to play its full role and to spread the army in the villages. ”
We cooperate with her to facilitate her mission. ”
The chief United Nations official in Lebanon and the head of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the south said that the conditions “are not yet prepared” to the safe return of Lebanese citizens to the villages near the border. “The truth is that the timelines stipulated” in the ceasefire “were not fulfilled.”
The agreement set a 60 -day timetable for implementation.
President Joseph AounThe Lebanese army commander, until the parliament was elected by the head of the state on January 9th, called for the people of the south to control and trust in the Lebanese army.
He said in a statement: “The sovereignty of Lebanon and its territorial integrity is not negotiable, and I am following this issue at the highest levels to ensure your rights and dignity.”
Israel did not mention the period in which its forces will remain in the south, where the Israeli army says it seized Hezbollah’s weapons and dismantled its infrastructure.
Israel said its attack on Hezbollah was aimed at securing the return of tens of thousands of Israelis who were forced to leave their homes on the border due to Hezbollah missiles.
Hezbollah opened fire in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas at the beginning of the Gaza war on October 8, 2023.
