22 killed in Lebanon as Israeli forces remain after withdrawal deadline

Israeli forces At least 22 people were killed and more than 124 injured in southern Lebanon on Sunday after protesters demanded they withdraw from the resolution. cease-fire agreement with Hezbollahsaid Lebanese authorities.

The dead include two women and a Lebanese army soldier, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Demonstrators, some of them carrying Hezbollah flags, tried to enter several villages to protest Israel’s failure to withdraw from southern Lebanon by the 60-day deadline stipulated in the cease-fire agreement that ended the Israeli-Hezbollah war in late November. The White House announced on Sunday that the ceasefire has been extended until February 18.

“The Government of Lebanon, the Government of Israel, and the Government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after October 7, 2023,” the White House said.

Israel said on Friday it would keep troops in the south after Sunday’s deadline because the Lebanese army was not fully deployed to ensure that Hezbollah did not reassert its presence in the area. Meanwhile, the US-backed Lebanese army said it would not be able to deploy forces until Israeli forces withdrew and accused Israel of delaying the withdrawal.

The Israeli military blamed Hezbollah for instigating Sunday’s protests.

It said in a statement that its soldiers fired guns to “remove threats from many areas where the suspects have been identified.” It added that a number of suspects close to the Israeli army have been arrested and are being questioned.

The development in Lebanon comes as Israel barred thousands of Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza on Sunday, accusing Hamas of violating a fragile ceasefire by changing the hostage-taking order it released.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said in a statement that Hamas would release three hostages, civilian Arbel Yehud, soldier Agam Berger and another unidentified hostage, on Thursday and three others on Saturday.

“As part of these agreements, Israel will allow the passage of Gazans to the north of the Gaza Strip starting tomorrow morning,” Netanyahu said.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a statement addressing the people of southern Lebanon on Sunday said “Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are not negotiable, and I am following this issue at the highest levels to ensure your rights and dignity.”

He urged them to “restrain themselves and trust the Lebanese army.” The Lebanese army, in a separate statement, said it was escorting civilians to some border towns and asked civilians to follow the army’s instructions to ensure their safety.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal Movement party is affiliated with Hezbollah and who served as a mediator between the terrorist group and the US during ceasefire talks, said Sunday’s bloodshed “is a clear and urgent call for the international community to act quickly and forcefully. The – Israel will withdraw from Lebanese territories.”

The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, wrote in X that Hezbollah sent “riots” and “is trying to inflame the situation to cover its status and position in Lebanon and the Arab world.”

He warned border residents not to try to return to their homes.

“The IDF does not intend to target you and therefore at this stage, you are not allowed to return to your homes from this route to the south until it is re-identified. Anyone who goes south on this route – you are putting yourself in danger,” he said.

The Special Coordinator of the UN in Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the head of the mission of the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, Lieutenant Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, called in a joint statement for both Israel and Lebanon to comply with their obligations under the cease-fire agreement.

“The truth is that the times that were targeted in the November Understanding have not been reached,” said the statement. “As we can see painfully this morning, the conditions are not yet good for residents to return to their homes along the Blue Line.”

UNIFIL said further violence risks undermining the fragile security situation in the region and “the prospects for stability brought about by the end of the conflict and the formation of a government in Lebanon.”

It called for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops, the removal of unauthorized weapons and supplies south of the Litani River, the redeployment of Lebanese troops throughout South Lebanon and the guarantee of the safe and dignified return of civilians who fled from both sides of the Blue. The line.

The AP team was trapped overnight at the UNIFIL camp near Mays al-Jabal after Israeli forces set up roadblocks on Saturday as they joined the peacekeeping forces. Journalists reported hearing gunshots and loud noises Sunday morning in the area, while security forces said dozens of protesters had gathered nearby.

In the village of Aita al Shaab, families were wandering around the flat concrete buildings looking for the remains of the houses they left behind. There are no Israeli soldiers.

“These are our houses,” said Hussein Bajouk, one of the returning residents. “No matter how much they destroy, we will rebuild.”

Bajouk added that he is certain that former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in a suburb south of Beirut in September, is indeed still alive.

“I don’t know how long we will wait, another month or two months … but Sayyed will come out and speak,” he said, using the honorific name Nasrallah.

On the other side of the border in the Manara kibbutz, Orna Weinberg surveyed the damage of the recent conflict on her neighbors and the Lebanese villages on the other side of the border. The sound of gunfire continued to explode in the distance.

“Unfortunately, we have no way to protect our own children without harming their children,” said Weinberg, 58. “It hurts on all sides.”

Some 112,000 Lebanese were left homeless, out of more than a million who fled their homes during the war.