EXPLAINER
On Sunday, the day Israeli forces were due to withdraw from southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health reported that the Israeli army had shot and killed at least 24 people, including six women, and injured 134 others, among them 14 women and 12 children.
At least two people were killed and 17 were hurt by Israeli forces the following day.
The Israeli attacks are the most recent since Hezbollah’s Lebanese Shia group’s ceasefire began on November 27.
In the two months from November 27 to Monday, Israel killed at least 83 people in Lebanon, according to data obtained from Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health. As displaced residents attempted to re-enter the towns where Israeli soldiers are still stationed, at least 228 were hurt.
Since the beginning of the conflict on October 8, 2023, to November 26, 2024, Israeli forces killed at least 3, 961 people across Lebanon and injured at least 16, 520.
What was agreed to in the ceasefire?
Under the United States-brokered ceasefire, Israeli forces were to have withdrawn from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah was to have moved north of the Litani River, about 30km (20 miles) from the Lebanon-Israel border, by Sunday.
In the 60 days following the ceasefire, Israel was scheduled to “gradually withdraw” its forces from southern Lebanon, and there was a planned deployment of the Lebanese army there.
Peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), followed by the Lebanese armed forces (LAF), were dispatched once the Israeli military had left.
Furthermore, the LAF is supposed to ensure that it is the only Lebanese armed presence in southern Lebanon.
What happened on Sunday?
Under the ceasefire, the Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from Lebanon at 02: 00 GMT on Sunday.
Israel, however, claimed that Hezbollah and other countries were not sufficiently retaliating by stating that its forces would remain in southern Lebanon past the deadline. Israel was urged to follow the deadline by Lebanon, which denied the claim.
At least 24 people were shot and killed as displaced people attempted to return to their homes on Sunday.
The following day in the village of Aitaroun, scores of unarmed residents, some waving Hezbollah flags, marched hand in hand or rode motorcycles, escorted by ambulances, bulldozers and Lebanese army tanks. They sped away from Israeli positions as they approached the town’s edge, but they were unable to enter.
“We are coming with our heads held high and crowned with victory to our village, Aitaroun”, Saleem Mrad, head of the municipality, told The Associated Press news agency. We will restore our village to its former splendor, saying, “Our village is ours.” We are staying”.
Israel reportedly dropped a bomb at the village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon in order to deter residents from continuing on.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, said the protests were a show of defiance by Hezbollah and its supporters.
Deadline was extended until February 18;
The deadline for complying with the ceasefire’s terms was extended to February 18 according to the US and Lebanon’s announcement on Sunday.
Israel’s military claims that it is seizing Hezbollah weapons and dismantling its infrastructure, but it has not specified how long its forces will remain in the south.
Source: Aljazeera
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