Fifteen killed as southern Lebanese residents defy Israeli orders not to return

Fifteen killed as  southern Lebanese residents defy Israeli orders not to return  home.
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At least fifteen people  have been killed and 83 others  wounded by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said,  after residents of  border villages defied  Israeli army orders not to return  home.
The deaths come  after a deadline expired  on Sunday for Israel to withdraw  its forces from the area, as part of a ceasefire agreement that ended months of conflict with  Hezbollah.
Under the November ceasefire agreement, Israeli and Hezbollah forces agreed to withdraw from southern Lebanon by January 26,  at the end of a 60-day period  set out in the  "agreement."
The 7th Israeli military  brigade in southern Lebanon, January 2025.


The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said the Israeli military launched attacks on  Sunday against Lebanese citizens  who tried to enter towns still occupied by Israeli  forces. Among those  killed was a soldier  "targeted by Israeli  enemy fire," the Lebanese army  said.
Video verified by CNN  shows residents on foot in Kfar  Kila in southern  Lebanon trying to return to their villages. Some were seen carrying Hezbollah flags, while others held  pictures of militant fighters killed in the  war.
This comes after  the Israeli military issued a  new order on Sunday  for residents of dozens of  villages in southern  Lebanon not to return to their  homes.
"Urgent!! A new reminder to residents of southern Lebanon:  until further  notice, you are prohibited from  traveling south to the  village line and  its surroundings," Avichay Adraee,  the Arabic-language  spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), wrote on  X. The message included a map of southern Lebanon with an area along the border with Israel  colored red and a list of more than 60  countries where residents were  banned from  entering.
A man carries an injured person in Burj al-Muluk on  Sunday. A man carries an injured person in Burj al-Muluk on Sunday.
"The Defense Forces  have no intention of targeting and  therefore, at this  stage, it is prohibited to  return home from this line south until further notice. Anyone  traveling south of this line  is putting themselves at  risk," Adraee  said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops operating in southern Lebanon  "fired warning shots to  deter threats in a number of areas where suspects were identified  as approaching  troops."
The Israeli military added  that it had  detained several suspects for questioning,  saying they posed  an "immediate threat to  troops."
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he was  "monitoring this issue at the highest  level" in a  statement.
"Lebanon's sovereignty and the unity of its territory are not subject to  compromise," he  said, and promised  southerners that he would  "guarantee your rights and  dignity."
The UN has called on both sides to urgently  commit to the  agreement, while its peacekeeping  forces have said  they will deploy to areas  of southern Lebanon at the request of the Lebanese army.

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