Army Opens Fire on Civilians Returning Home: 11 Dead, 83 Injured

Beirut (The Uttam Hindu): Israel killed at least 11 people, including a Lebanese soldier, in southern Lebanon as Lebanese civilians were trying to return to their homes in the border region where Israeli forces remain entrenched even after a withdrawal deadline had passed.

Lebanon's public health ministry said on Sunday that "Israeli enemy attacks against civilians trying to return to their villages have killed 11 people, including a Lebanese army soldier and two women, while 83 people have been injured so far," Al Jazeera reported. Three civilian deaths were earlier reported. Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, said in a statement that Sunday's bloodshed was "a clear and urgent signal for the international community to take immediate action and force Israel to withdraw from the occupied Lebanese territories." Berri's Amal Movement party is in alliance with Hezbollah.

Earlier on Friday, Israel said that it would keep its troops on the ground beyond the Sunday deadline set in the US-brokered ceasefire. However, Israel did not clarify how long the troops would remain there. According to Israeli media, the IDF said on Sunday's firing that it fired at suspects who were approaching the soldiers still deployed in southern Lebanon and who were posing a 'threat'. The Israeli military said, "The IDF is deployed in southern Lebanon and continues to act in accordance with the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon." The statement further said, "The IDF is monitoring Hezbollah's attempts to return to southern Lebanon. The IDF will act against any threat posed to soldiers and the State of Israel."

According to the report, the firing by the Israeli army is a violation of the ceasefire agreement signed in November, under which Israeli forces were to withdraw from Lebanon by 02:00 (GMT) on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Lebanon for the delay in the troop withdrawal and said that Hezbollah had not withdrawn sufficiently from the border area. Lebanon denied this claim and appealed to Israel to respect the deadline.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army was to be stationed alongside UN peacekeepers in the south, with Israeli forces to withdraw from the area over a 60-day period. The deal, brokered by the United States and France in November, ended more than a year of fighting that began with Israeli attacks on Gaza. Meanwhile, the UN envoy to Lebanon and the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a joint statement that "conditions have not yet been created" for the safe return of Lebanese civilians to southern Lebanon. They said deadlines set under the ceasefire deal had not been met. They urged both Israel and Lebanon to recommit.