The fragile ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza were tested on Sunday as Israeli forces killed scores of people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese officials said, while in Gaza Israel prevented Palestinians from moving back into their homes, saying Hamas had violated the terms of the ceasefire. .
But by the end of the day in Gaza, Israel and Hamas said understandings had been reached through mediators to resolve their dispute.
And the White House issued a statement indicating that an initial 60-day ceasefire agreement in Lebanon that called for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the southern part of the country by Sunday will be extended until February 18.
Negotiators had hoped that the ceasefire in Lebanon, which was signed in November, would become permanent by now, providing a measure of calm in the turbulent region. Thousands of Lebanese women displaced by the war poured onto the roads leading south, heading back to their homes.
But as the original deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and forces of the Hezbollah militant group from southern Lebanon passed on Sunday, a very different scenario took shape. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli forces killed at least 22 people and wounded 120 in southern Lebanon, making Sunday the country’s deadliest day since the war ended in November.
Israel’s military said in a statement late Sunday that it had fired “warning shots to eliminate threats” — wording that suggested the shots may have been more than just a warning. It said that there were “dozens of disturbances” in the area. The army also said its troops had spotted a “vehicle with Hezbollah flags” and that its forces were “acting to eliminate the threat.”
In recent days, Israeli officials expressed concern that Hezbollah remains active in southern Lebanon and doubts the Lebanese army’s ability to contain the group.
These claims cannot be independently verified. The five-member committee overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire has not publicly released any information on Hezbollah’s compliance with the terms of the ceasefire.
The White House statement on Sunday did not specifically mention Hezbollah or Israel’s military presence in southern Lebanon. The governments of Lebanon, Israel and the United States are said to begin negotiations on the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the regional war.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, the Lebanese government or Hezbollah.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, warned in a statement on Sunday that it was “necessary to avoid further deterioration of the situation”. He called on the Israeli army to avoid shooting at civilians and the Lebanese to comply with the directives of the Lebanese army.
“The further risk of violence undermines the fragile security situation,” the statement said.
In a statement late Sunday, Israel’s military said it was “determined to continue operating in accordance with the Israeli-Lebanese understanding, despite Hezbollah’s attempts to return to South Lebanon.”
Tens of thousands of Israelis who were evacuated from their homes in northern Israel 15 months ago have been reluctant to return, fearing cross-border attacks by Hezbollah.
In the Gaza Strip on Sunday, civilians displaced by the war were also kept from returning to their homes. Israeli troops prevented them That’s after Israeli officials accused Hamas of violating the terms of a cease-fire agreement that went into effect a week ago.
Under the conditions of the initial phase of Gaza agreed to this monthIsrael was expected to withdraw some of its forces and allow hundreds of thousands of entrenched Gazans to head north after a second exchange of hostages and prisoners on Saturday.
The Israeli government said Hamas violated the agreement by failing to adhere to the agreed order of release of the hostages and by failing to provide Israel with information on the status of prisoners still in Gaza who were seized when the militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
The dispute centers on one particular hostage, Arbel Yehud, an Israeli civilian. Ms Yehud was to be among the women released on Saturday as part of an exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Israel requested that its civilians be released before the military.
But on Saturday, Four soldiers were released In exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners.
Hussein al-Batsh, an official with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller armed organization and one-time rival of Hamas in Gaza, told the New York Times on Sunday that Ms. Yehud was in the custody of the Quds Brigades, the group’s military wing. He said Ms Yehud was not released on Saturday for “technical reasons”.
After days of feverish talks to resolve the crisis, Qatar, one of the main mediators between Israel and Hamas, said close to midnight on Sunday that Hamas would hand over Ms Yehud and two other hostages before next Friday, in addition to handing over three other hostages on Saturday.
Israel confirmed that Ms. Yehud would be released on Thursday along with Agam Berger, an Israeli soldier, and one other hostage. Israel also said it had received a long-awaited list from Hamas that provided details on the status of the remaining 26 hostages to be released in the first phase of the deal.
In return, Israel said it would allow Gazans to cross into northern Gaza, starting Monday morning.
On Sunday, pictures of a large crowd of displaced Palestinians waited nearby Netzarim corridor – The zone built by Israeli forces that divides Gaza into two – to return to the north, circulated in the Palestinian media.
WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s news agency, reported that one person was killed and several others wounded west of Nuseirat in central Gaza after Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of people waiting to return to the north. Israel’s military said its troops had fired a warning shot at several gatherings of Palestinians in central Gaza, describing them in a statement as “suspects who advanced towards the troops and posed a threat to them.”
One Palestinian, Ghada Al-Kurd, 37, said she decided to stay in central Gaza on Sunday, despite longing to return home to the north. “I will not risk my life,” she said. “These soldiers cannot be trusted.”
Mrs. Al-Kurd, who left her home and two daughters in Gaza City in the early weeks of the war, wondered again when she would finally see them. “We’re just waiting here, feeling stressed and anxious,” she said. “They are playing with our fate,” she added.
Similar sentiments were expressed among thousands of Lebanese who tried to return home to towns and villages along the Israeli border, despite warnings from Lebanese and Israeli soldiers that it was not yet safe to do so.
On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people waited anxiously outside Meiss al-Jabal, a village along Lebanon’s southern border.
Ibrahim Hamoud, 41, said he recently saw a video sent by a friend in the Lebanese army of his home in the village: the structure was standing, offering him a measure of relief, although the video also showed an Israeli tank stationed just outside his front door, he said.
“I was away from my village, from my house, for more than a year,” Mr. Hamoud said in a telephone interview. “I never thought I’d be back.”
The crisis presents a critical test for Lebanon’s new leaders. President Josip Aoun and premier-designing Nawaf Salamwhile they want to regain some political control from Hezbollah and build a functional state.
Experts warn that any prolonged Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon could breathe new life into Hezbollah, a group founded on the liberation of Lebanon from Israeli occupation and which has presented itself as the only force capable of protecting Lebanon’s borders.
“As long as Israel occupies Lebanon, it revives the Hezbollah narrative,” said Sami Nader, director of the Institute of Political Science at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.
For those who managed to enter their villages in southern Lebanon, the scale of the destruction was overwhelming. Entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble by the Israeli invasion that began on October 1, 2024, which was aimed at crippling Hezbollah. The militant group began opening fire in Israel a day after Hamas launched a war in Gaza.
In the southern city of Aita al-shaab, of which a large part it now lies in ruinResidents walked through streets with rubble and flattened buildings. Among them was Mohamed Srour, the city’s mayor, who was displaced more than a year ago after strikes between Hezbollah and Israel began.
He said Israeli soldiers had not yet fully withdrawn from the city and were shooting sporadically at civilians. The claims could not be independently verified. Still, Mr. Srour remained determined.
“Today, Aita celebrates its long-awaited return,” he said. “Houses are destroyed and life is gone, but our will to live is stronger. We will build again.”
Reporting contributed Hiba Yazbek,, Iyad Abuheweil,, Jonathan Reiss,, Gabby Sobelman,, Myra Noveck,, Hwaida Saad and Dayan Iwaz.
