15 dead and 83 injured in Israeli fire on residents in the south, despite the truce with Hezbollah

The Israeli army opened fire this Sunday, January 26, on residents of southern Lebanon who were trying to return to their villages by the hundreds, leaving 15 dead and dozens injured, according to a new report from the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The ministry had reported eleven deaths and 83 injured in a previous report.

The Lebanese army announced that one of its soldiers was killed by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon. “One soldier died as a martyr (…) and another was injured” after having “been targeted by Israeli enemy fire, as part of its continued aggression against citizens and soldiers in the southern border areas”the army said in a statement. The Israeli army remains deployed in the area despite the expiration of the deadline set for its withdrawal by the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

“To wait for”

The conditions for allowing the return to Lebanon of residents of localities bordering Israel are not “not yet reunited”the United Nations said, with the Israeli army remaining deployed in the area despite the expiration of the deadline set for its withdrawal by the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. “Displaced communities (…) are therefore once again called upon to exercise caution.”they added.

The Lebanese army had advised residents not to go to areas still occupied by the Israeli army. “Don’t allow Hezbollah to come back and use you (..)”said the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee on Sunday.

The Israeli army is still deployed this Sunday, January 26 in southern Lebanon despite the expiration of the 60-day deadline at the end of which it was to have left the territory of its neighbor, as part of a truce with Hezbollah Lebanese. The Lebanese army denounced on Saturday the“procrastination” of Israel and said she was ready “to continue its deployment as soon as the Israeli enemy withdraws”. Under the agreement which ended two months of war between the powerful Hezbollah movement and Israel on November 27, only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers can now be deployed in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli army was supposed to have completed its withdrawal on January 26.

More than a million displaced

This has evacuated the entire coastal region of southern Lebanon, but still occupies areas further east. For its part, Hezbollah, having emerged weakened from the war, must withdraw its forces north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometers from the border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the withdrawal of Israeli forces would continue beyond the January 26 deadline. “As the ceasefire agreement has not been fully fulfilled by Lebanon, the phased withdrawal process will continue in agreement with the United States”he said, while the application of the agreement is notably supervised by the United States.

Believing that the Lebanese army and Hezbollah have not respected the terms of the agreement, Israel “will not endanger its localities and its citizens” in the north of the country, he added. Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah had forced 60,000 people in Israel and another 900,000 in Lebanon to flee their homes on both sides of the border. Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad said on Saturday that “the pretexts invoked by Israel” aim “to pursue a scorched earth policy” and return “the return of the inhabitants (to the south) impossible”.

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Regular strikes

For his part, the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, announced during a telephone interview with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that “the need to force Israel to respect the provisions of the agreement in order to preserve stability in the south”the Lebanese presidency said on Saturday. He also stressed the need for Israel “put an end to its successive violations, in particular the destruction of border villages (…) which will prevent the return of inhabitants”.

Despite the truce, the Israeli army regularly carries out strikes, claiming to target Hezbollah, and the official Lebanese press agency ANI reports dynamiting in villages still occupied. This fragile truce was marked by accusations of violations from both camps. Claiming to act in support of its ally Hamas, Hezbollah opened a front against Israel the day after the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023 which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip, where a truce has also been in effect since January 19.

This front degenerated into open war last September, with Israel bombing the capital Beirut and inflicting several hard blows on the powerful Lebanese movement, including killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah said on Thursday that “any violation of the 60-day deadline would be considered a flagrant violation of the agreement” of ceasefire. This would force the Lebanese state to use “all necessary means (…) to recover the land and wrest it from the clutches of occupation”added the movement, without threatening to resume its attacks.