IDF: Hezbollah operatives among those trying to reach area

22 killed in south Lebanon as IDF fires on suspects trying to break through to villages

Over 120 said wounded as Hezbollah supporters attempt to breach roadblocks on 60th day of ceasefire, ignoring Israeli warnings; IDF says withdrawal delayed due to Lebanese army

Lebanese with Hezbollah flags gather near Israeli troops in Burj al-Muluk, near the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, where Israeli forces remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed as residents sought to return to homes in the border area, Lebanon January 26, 2025 (REUTERS/Karamallah Daher)
Lebanese with Hezbollah flags gather near Israeli troops in Burj al-Muluk, near the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, where Israeli forces remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed as residents sought to return to homes in the border area, Lebanon January 26, 2025 (REUTERS/Karamallah Daher)

Hundreds of Lebanese attempted to reach southern villages near the border with Israel by force on Sunday morning, defying warnings by the Israel Defense Forces to stay away, as the ceasefire’s original 60-day deadline for Israel to withdraw its forces passed with troops remaining in parts of the country’s south.

The Lebanese health ministry said 22 people had been killed, including a Lebanese soldier, and some 124 had been wounded by IDF fire in southern Lebanon since the morning.

The crowds appeared to be largely made up of Hezbollah supporters. Hezbollah’s al-Manar television, broadcasting from several locations in the south, showed footage of residents moving toward villages in defiance of Israeli orders, some holding the terror group’s flag and images of Hezbollah fighters killed in the war, as well as slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

An Israeli military official told reporters that hundreds of Lebanese, among them Hezbollah operatives, tried to reach villages in southern Lebanon while carrying out “provocations.”

The official said the military had prepared for civilians attempting to reach the border villages at the end of the 60-day truce, despite its warnings.

The IDF said it opened fire on suspects who approached troops still deployed in southern Lebanon and who posed an “imminent threat.” Troops also detained several suspects, according to the military.

Protesters carry Hezbollah flags near an Israeli military vehicle as people gather in Burj al-Muluk on January 26, 2025 (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

“The IDF remains deployed in southern Lebanon, continues to operate in accordance with the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, and is monitoring Hezbollah’s attempts to return to southern Lebanon. The IDF will operate against any threat posed to IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the military said.

Israel has said that it needs to stay past the 60-day deadline because the Lebanese army has not deployed to all areas of southern Lebanon, as was agreed, to ensure that Hezbollah does not reestablish a military presence in the area. The Lebanese army has accused Israel of procrastinating in its withdrawal.

The military official said that discussions on extending the ceasefire to allow for the IDF’s gradual withdrawal to be completed were being held between Israeli political officials and the United States, and between the US and Lebanon.

Demonstrators on Sunday attempted to enter several villages in the border area to protest Israel’s failure to withdraw. Protesters were reported to breach or attempt to breach roadblocks that had been set up by both Lebanese and Israeli troops.

The Lebanese health ministry said that 22 people were killed, including a member of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and more than 124 were wounded, in several villages in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military official said the IDF was aware of the claims, but the details regarding the killed Lebanese soldier were being looked into.

The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson in a post on X addressed to the people of south Lebanon, accused Hezbollah of trying to “heat up the situation” and sending “rioters” to the border area. He said the Israeli army would “in the near future” inform them of places to which they could return.

“Hezbollah does not care about Lebanon’s interests. The images coming from some areas of southern Lebanon are evidence of that,” Col. Avichay Adraee said.

“The defeated party is using all its media outlets to challenge Lebanon’s interests and to divert attention from the sin of its leaders who brought southern Lebanon to this reality.”

Pro-Hezbollah protesters carry a flag and wear scarves bearing an image of slain terror leader Hasan Nasrallah as they gather in Burj al-Muluk on January 26, 2025, behind an Israeli roadblock across a road leading to their village in southern Lebanon (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

The Lebanese army called on civilians to “exercise self-restraint” and follow its instructions.

In a statement, the Lebanese Armed Forces said it was accompanying civilians entering several villages in south Lebanon, “amid the Israeli enemy’s persistence in violating Lebanon’s sovereignty, its attacks on citizens, causing martyrs and wounded among them, and its refusal to abide by the ceasefire agreement and withdraw from the Lebanese territories it occupied.”

Hezbollah, badly weakened by Israel during the war, has put the onus on the Lebanese state to ensure the IDF’s withdrawal, describing Israel’s failure to leave southern Lebanon by the deadline as a violation of the agreement.

“We are in our land and the enemy is the one who turned against the agreement and violated the agreement, and thus the people are the ones who are liberating their land with their own hands and blood,” said Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah, speaking to al-Manar.

“We want the state to play its role,” he added.

Lebanese with Hezbollah flags gather near Israeli troops in Burj al-Muluk on January 26, 2025, as an Israeli military vehicle (top-L) takes its position on the Kfar Kila side (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Another Hezbollah lawmaker, Ali Fayad, said on Saturday that Israel’s “excuses” were a pretext to “pursue a scorched earth policy” in border areas that would make the return of displaced residents impossible.

The ceasefire deal stipulates that Hezbollah pull back its forces north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that “the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese state,” so the Israeli military’s withdrawal would not yet take place despite the Sunday deadline.

A resident of Kfar Kila carries a Hezbollah flag as people gather in Burj al-Muluk on January 26, 2025, behind an Israeli roadblock across a road leading to their village in southern Lebanon (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Israeli forces have left coastal areas of southern Lebanon, but are still present in areas further east.

“The withdrawal process is conditional upon the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, with Hezbollah withdrawing beyond the Litani River,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

It added that “the gradual withdrawal process will continue in full coordination with the United States,” a key ally and one of the monitors of the ceasefire.

The White House said on Friday that a short, temporary ceasefire extension was urgently needed.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who was head of the US-backed Lebanese army until parliament elected him head of state on January 9, called on the people of the south to exercise self-restraint and trust in the Lebanese military.

“‎Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are nonnegotiable, and I am following up on this issue at the highest levels to ensure your rights and dignity,” he said in a statement.

Aoun spoke on Saturday with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, whose government is also involved in overseeing the truce. According to a statement from his office, Aoun spoke of the “need to oblige Israel to respect the terms of the deal in order to maintain stability in the south.”

Lebanese residents shout slogans against Israeli troops in Burj al-Muluk on January 26, 2025, while an Israeli military vehicle takes position at a roadblock (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Aoun also said Israel must “end its successive violations, including the destruction of border villages… which would prevent the return of residents.”

Macron’s office, in its summary of the conversation, said the French president had called on all parties to the ceasefire to honor their commitments as soon as possible.

The fragile ceasefire has generally held thus far, even as the warring sides have repeatedly traded accusations of violating it.

Israeli soldiers secure a roadblock in Kfar Kila, as seen from Borj El Mlouk, on January 26, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

The IDF has continued to carry out frequent strikes that it says target Hezbollah fighters, and Lebanese state media has reported that Israeli forces have carried out demolitions in villages they control.

The November 27 deal ended two months of full-scale war that followed months of low-intensity exchanges. Hezbollah began near-daily cross-border attacks on northern Israel one day after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by its Palestinian ally Hamas, which triggered the war in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Israeli residents of the north were displaced by the attacks.

Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in September, launching a series of devastating blows against the group’s leadership and killing its longtime chief Nasrallah before launching a ground invasion in southern Lebanon aimed at diminishing Hezbollah’s capabilities.

Hezbollah warned on Thursday that “any violation of the 60-day deadline will be considered a flagrant violation” of the ceasefire agreement and “an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty.”

The group refrained from any threat to resume attacks on Israel but said the Lebanese state should use “all means necessary… to restore the land and wrest it from the clutches of the occupation.”

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