(Bourj al-Moulouk) Hundreds of inhabitants in southern Lebanon braved the Israeli army on Sunday and attempted to return to their villages, some still occupied by the Israeli forces which opened fire in their direction, killing 15 people according to Lebanese authorities.
Posted at 9:08 a.m.
Kamal Mehanna with Mahmoud Zayyat in Houla
Agency France-Presse
AFP correspondents have seen convoys of dozens of cars, brandishing the yellow flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah, converging on several villages devastated by the war between the pro-Iranian formation, which came out weakened, and the Israeli army.
Under the agreement which ended on November 27 to two months of open war, only the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeepers can now be deployed in southern Lebanon, hence the Israeli army was supposed to have completed his withdrawal on January 26.
But Israel announced on Friday that the withdrawal operation would continue beyond this deadline, believing that the agreement “was not fully accomplished by Lebanon”.
Photo Rabih Daher, Agency France-Presse
A shielded vehicle of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Finul) and an Israeli military jeep
The Israeli army drew in several border localities on “citizens who were trying to return to their villages”, killing 15, including a soldier of the Lebanese army and three women and dozens of wounded, according to the Lebanese ministry of the Health.
For its part, the Israeli army said that its soldiers had drawn “summons to eliminate threats in several areas where suspects were identified approaching troops”, adding that it “apprehends suspects” who “constituted an imminent threat”.
The peacekeepers, which estimated that the conditions for a return of the inhabitants were “not yet met”, said that it was “imperative to avoid any additional deterioration of the situation” and called the Israeli army to “Avoid shooting civilians in Lebanese territory”.
“We are going to come back”
An AFP correspondent saw hundreds of inhabitants in the city of Bint Jbeil gathering in the main street to pray during a religious ceremony, before heading in procession to neighboring villages.
According to him, dozens of inhabitants of the border locality of Maïss al-Jabal were heading towards the devastated village, where the Israeli army is still deployed.
They brandished portraits of the former Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah chief, killed by Israel at the end of September, and photos of their relatives who died in the war between Israel and Hezbollah who had forced 900,000 people in Lebanon and made More than 4,000 dead according to the Lebanese authorities.
-PHOTO BILAL HUSSEIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Lebanese brandish a portrait of the former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel at the end of September
“We are going to return to our villages and the Israeli enemy will leave, even if it will make martyrs,” AFP Ali Harb, a 27 -year -old man who was trying to return to the devastated village of Kfarkila, to AFP.
In another border village, Maroun al-Ras, images broadcast by local channels showed Lebanese soldiers and men brandishing flags from Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal movement, a few meters from an Israeli chariot.
In addition to the Israeli withdrawal, the agreement provides that Hezbollah withdraws its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the border, and dismantles any remaining military infrastructure in the South.
The Arabic-speaking spokesman for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, had called the inhabitants of the South on X to “wait” before returning. “Do not allow Hezbollah to come back and use […] “He said.
Appeal to the sponsors of the agreement
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun invited residents to show “composure” and “trust the Lebanese army”, “anxious to ensure your 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 compel the Israeli enemy to withdraw from the territories which he occupies ”.
A surveillance mechanism bringing together France, the United States, Lebanon, Israel and peacekeepers, has been set up to monitor the application of the agreement.
The Israeli army has withdrawn its forces from the coastal sector in southern Lebanon, but has remained in the areas further east.
Saying to act in support of his ally Hamas, Hezbollah had opened a front against Israel in the aftermath of the attack on the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023 which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip, where a truce fragile has also been in force, since January 19.
This front had degenerated at the war opened last September, Israel bombing the capital Beirut and inflicting several harsh strokes in the powerful Lebanese movement.
