Hundreds of residents of southern Lebanon braved the Israeli army on Sunday and attempted to return to their villages, some still occupied by Israeli forces which opened fire in their direction, killing two and 32 injured according to the Lebanese authorities.
AFP correspondents have seen convoys of dozens of cars, brandishing the yellow flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah, converging towards several villages devastated by the war between pro-Iranian training and the Israeli army.
Under the agreement which ended the war on November 27, the Israeli army was to finish its withdrawal from southern Lebanon on Sunday, but Israel announced on Friday that the operation would continue beyond the deadline of January 26.
The Israeli army has opened fire in at least two border localities on “Citizens who were trying to return to their villages”killing two and 32 injured, according to the Ministry of Health.
Residents, including many women, carrying the photos of their loved ones killed during the war, were heading on foot or on a motorcycle to the frontal locality of Maïss al-Jabal, to bypass a set of sand created by the Israeli army.
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun called on the inhabitants to show «Sang-questioning» and at “Having confidence in the Lebanese army”, “anxious to ensure your return safely in your homes and villages”.
-The Lebanese army had advised the inhabitants not to go to the areas still occupied by the Israeli army.
The Arabic-speaking spokesman for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, called the inhabitants of the South in a press release on X in ” to wait for “ Before returning. “Do not allow Hezbollah to come back and use (..)”he said on Sunday.
Under the agreement which ended two months of open war between the powerful Hezbollah and Israel, only the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeepers must now be deployed in southern Lebanon.
For its part, Hezbollah, out of the war from the war, must withdraw its forces north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers from the border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
