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Hundreds of residents of southern Lebanon brave the Israeli army, 15 dead
Hundreds of residents of southern Lebanon defied the Israeli army on Sunday and tried to return to their villages, some still occupied by Israeli forces who opened fire in their direction, killing 15 people according to Lebanese authorities. Correspondents AFP saw convoys of dozens of cars, brandishing the yellow flags of Lebanese Hezbollah, converge on several villages devastated by the war between the pro-Iranian formation, which emerged weakened, and the Israeli army. Under the agreement which ended two months of open war on November 27, only the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeepers can now be deployed in southern Lebanon. , from where the Israeli army was supposed to have completed its withdrawal on January 26. But Israel announced Friday that the withdrawal operation would continue beyond this deadline, saying that the agreement “was not totally accomplished by the Lebanon”.The Israeli army fired in several border towns on “citizens who were trying to return to their villages”, killing 15 people, including a Lebanese army soldier and three women, and dozens of injured, according to the ministry. Lebanese Health. For its part, the Israeli army indicated that its soldiers had fired “warning shots to eliminate threats in several areas where suspects were identified approaching the troops”, adding that they had “suspects apprehended” who “constituted an imminent threat”. The peacekeepers, who considered that the conditions for a return of the inhabitants were “not yet met”, declared that it was “imperative to avoid any further deterioration of the situation ” and called on the Israeli army to “avoid shooting civilians in Lebanese territory.” – “We will return” – An AFP correspondent saw hundreds of residents in the town of Bint Jbeil gathering in the main street to pray of a religious ceremony, before heading in a procession towards neighboring villages. According to him, dozens of residents of the border town of Maïss al-Jabal were heading on foot towards the devastated village, where the Israeli army is still deployed.They brandished portraits of the former leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel at the end of September, and photos of their relatives who perished in the war between Israel and Hezbollah which had forced 900,000 people in Lebanon fled and left more than 4,000 dead according to the Lebanese authorities. “We will return to our villages and the Israeli enemy will leave, even if that will cause martyrs,” Ali told AFP. Harb, a 27-year-old young man who was trying to return to the devastated village of Kfarkila. In another border village, Maroun al-Ras, images broadcast by local channels showed Lebanese soldiers and men brandishing flags of Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal movement, a few meters from an Israeli tank. Alongside the Israeli withdrawal, the agreement provides for Hezbollah to withdraw its forces north of the Litani River, to approximately 30 kilometers from the border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south. The Israeli army’s Arabic-speaking spokesman, Avichay Adraee, had called southern residents on X to “wait” before returning. “Do not allow Hezbollah to come back and use you (…),” he said. – Call to the sponsors of the agreement – Lebanese President Joseph Aoun invited residents to show “blood -cold” and to “have confidence in the Lebanese army”, “anxious to ensure your safe return to your homes and villages”. For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on Sunday “the sponsors of the ceasefire agreement to assume their responsibilities (…) and to force the Israeli enemy to withdraw from the territories it occupies.” A monitoring mechanism bringing together France, the United States , Lebanon, Israel and the Blue Helmets, was set up to monitor the implementation of the agreement. The Israeli army withdrew its forces from the coastal sector of southern Lebanon but remained in the areas further to the est.Saying to act in support to its ally Hamas, Hezbollah had opened a front against Israel the day after the attack of the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023 which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip, where a fragile truce is also in place. force, since January 19. This front had degenerated into open war last September, Israel bombing the capital Beirut and inflicting several hard blows on the powerful movement Lebanese.str-kam-at-jos/anr
