BEIRUT (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Ten Lebanese citizens were martyred and 83 others were injured on Sunday morning while trying to enter their towns still occupied by Israeli forces, violating the 60-day deadline for withdrawal under the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that Israeli aggressions against citizens attempting to enter their still-occupied towns resulted in an initial toll of ten martyrs and 83 injuries in a preliminary count of casualties.
It earlier announced that one martyr was reported in Hula along with nine injuries, who were transferred to Tebnine Government Hospital for treatment. Additionally, eight people were injured in Kafr Kila and were taken to Marjeyoun Government Hospital for treatment.
Lebanese media sources had earlier reported that the number of martyrs had risen to three, with more than 30 others injured, including one soldier. Reports indicated that there were injuries due to Israeli gunfire among the residents of Kafr Kila as they attempted to return to their southern town.
Residents of the town of Khiam organized car rallies to return home despite Israeli warnings. Ten Lebanese were injured by Israeli gunfire in the towns of Burj al-Muluk, Kafr Kila, Hula, and Wadi al-Saluki, while Israeli forces arrested two Lebanese in the town of Hula, southern Lebanon.
Earlier, hundreds of southerners gathered at the entrances to their villages in preparation to enter them as the 60-day deadline for the withdrawal of occupation forces from the south expired.
Israel announced that its army remains deployed in various locations in southern Lebanon. It declared a prohibition on the return of Lebanese citizens to 62 towns in southern Lebanon, as it has not withdrawn from those areas despite the deadline for its presence there having passed at dawn today.
The Israeli army stated in a statement that it prohibits the return of residents to their homes in dozens of villages along the border with Israel, adding that all those approaching them “put themselves in danger.”
Local Lebanese platforms broadcast videos of displaced Lebanese attempting to return to the town of Mais al-Jabal in southern Lebanon after the deadline for the occupation forces’ presence in the south expired.
The Lebanese army, in a statement marking the end of the 60-day deadline following the ceasefire, urged residents to exercise caution when heading towards the southern border areas, “due to the presence of mines and suspicious objects left by the Israeli enemy.”
It emphasized the importance of citizens being responsible and adhering to the directives of the army leadership and the guidance of the deployed military units to ensure their safety.
The army stated that military units are continuously working on conducting engineering surveys, opening roads, and addressing unexploded ordnance, while closely monitoring the operational situation, particularly regarding ongoing violations of the agreement and attacks on Lebanon’s sovereignty, in addition to the destruction of infrastructure and the demolition and burning of homes in border villages by the Israeli enemy.
It also announced the continuation of implementing a plan to enhance deployment in the area south of the Litani River, as mandated by the Cabinet, from the first day the ceasefire agreement came into effect, according to successive and specific phases, in coordination with the five-member committee overseeing the implementation of the agreement (Mechanism) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon – UNIFIL.
It confirmed delays in several phases due to the Israeli procrastination in withdrawal, complicating the army’s deployment mission, while noting that it remains ready to complete its deployment as soon as the Israeli army withdraws.
For its part, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party called on all residents of the southern villages to head there to inspect and return to their homes, stressing that “Hezbollah” is fully prepared to defend the land, protect it, and liberate it.
In a statement, it said, “As the 60-day deadline of the ceasefire and the withdrawal of the enemy’s army from southern Lebanon has passed, the party emphasizes that the enemy was indeed unable to enter Lebanese towns except with the commencement of the implementation of the agreement, as it failed during its ground war to enter and establish itself due to the valor of the resistance fighters, their high combat will, and their precise and effective plan that thwarted the enemy’s plans and prevented it from achieving its declared and latent objectives.”
It continued, “With the deadline having passed, the party calls on our people from the residents of all southern villages to head there to inspect and return to their homes, heads held high, proud like victors, as they were intended to remain displaced far from their land, and now it is calling for them to restore glory and life to it and remove the filth of the occupier from the pure blood of the martyrs and the wounded among their heroic sons who fought valiantly until the last breath.”
The party called on the Lebanese government to urge the sponsors of the agreement to oversee the immediate withdrawal of the enemy from southern Lebanon and to protect the citizens’ natural right to return safely to their villages and homes in preparation for their reconstruction and the removal of all traces of the aggression.
It added, “The resistance is fully prepared to defend the land, protect it, and liberate it, and warns the enemy that if it decides to persist in not fully implementing the ceasefire agreement, the resistance, along with the Lebanese army and the residents of the villages, have the full right and legitimacy to defend Lebanon.”
The party, in conclusion, saluted the families of the martyrs, the wounded, and the resistance fighters.
