Israel Kills 3, Injures Dozens in Southern Lebanon Violating Ceasefire Agreement | Israel attacked Lebanon News
The attacks come on a day when Israeli troops were supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon and allow people to return home.
Israel killed at least three people and wounded 31 in southern Lebanon on the day Israeli forces were there due to withdrawal according to the ceasefire agreement.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said on Sunday that Israeli forces had opened fire in at least two border towns on “citizens trying to return to their villages”.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued a message earlier Sunday to residents of more than 60 villages in southern Lebanon, telling them not to return.
The Israeli killings violate a ceasefire agreement reached in November, under which its forces were to withdraw from Lebanon at 02:00 GMT on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Lebanon for the delay, saying Hezbollah he did not withdraw sufficiently from the border area. Lebanon denies the claim and called on Israel to meet the deadline.
Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr, reporting from Borj al-Mlouk in southern Lebanon, said the Israeli army claims it must stay longer because the Lebanese army is not doing its job to secure Hezbollah is disarmed and its military infrastructure dismantled.
“The Israelis say there are not enough Lebanese troops on the ground and they say Hezbollah is still here. There is no independent confirmation of these claims,” she said.
“People here have been displaced from their homes for more than a year. They believe that the Israeli army should have withdrawn in accordance with the ceasefire agreement. The 60-day deadline has passed.”
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army was to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers in the south while the Israeli army withdrew from the area for a period of 60 days.
Hezbollah agreed to withdraw its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 km (19 miles) from the border, and dismantle all remaining military infrastructure in the south.
The deal, brokered by the United States and France in November, ended more than a year of fighting after Israel’s war on Gaza.
