Lebanese officials said a fragile ceasefire between Lebanon and Gaza was tested on Sunday after Israeli forces killed scores of people in southern Lebanon, while in Gaza Israel and Hamas violated terms of the deal. He said that he had prevented Palestinians from returning to their homelands. Truce.
But by the end of the day in Gaza, Israel and Hamas said they had reached an agreement through a mediator to resolve the conflict.
The White House then issued a statement indicating that Lebanon’s original 60-day ceasefire agreement, which called for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the country’s south by Sunday, will be extended until February 18.
Negotiators had hoped that Lebanon’s ceasefire, signed in November, would become permanent by now, ensuring some peace in the troubled region. Thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war are flooding the roads heading south to return to their homes.
But as the original deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the militant group Hezbollah from southern Lebanon passed on Sunday, a very different scenario was taking shape. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli forces killed at least 22 people and wounded 120 in southern Lebanon, making Sunday the country’s deadliest day since the war ended in November.
The Israeli military said in a statement late Sunday that it had fired “warning shots to eliminate the threat.” This wording suggests that the shooting may have been more than just a warning. It said there were “dozens of rioters” in the area. The military also said soldiers spotted a “vehicle flying a Hezbollah flag” and the military “acted to eliminate the threat.”
Israeli authorities have expressed concern in recent days that Hezbollah continues to operate in southern Lebanon, raising doubts about the Lebanese army’s ability to rein in the group.
These claims could not be independently verified. The five-member committee overseeing ceasefire implementation has not released any information regarding Hezbollah’s compliance with ceasefire terms.
Sunday’s White House statement did not specifically mention Hezbollah or Israel’s military presence in southern Lebanon. The governments of Lebanon, Israel and the United States said they would begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked a regional war.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, the Lebanese government or Hezbollah.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, warned in a statement on Sunday that “it is imperative to avoid further deterioration of the situation.” He called on Israeli forces to avoid firing on civilians and called on Lebanese to follow instructions from the Lebanese army.
“Further violence risks undermining the fragile security situation,” the statement said.
The Israeli military said in a statement late Sunday that it was “determined to continue operations in accordance with Israeli-Lebanese agreements, despite Hezbollah’s attempts to return to southern Lebanon.”
Tens of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes in northern Israel 15 months ago are reluctant to return, fearing cross-border attacks by Hezbollah.
In the Gaza Strip on Sunday, civilians displaced by the war were similarly prevented from returning to their homes. The Israeli military blocked the attack after Israeli authorities accused Hamas of violating the terms of a ceasefire agreement that came into force a week ago.
Under the terms of the initial Gaza ceasefire agreed this month, after a second hostage and prisoner exchange on Saturday, Israel withdrew some of its troops and hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans returned to the north. It was expected that he would be allowed to leave.
The Israeli government says Hamas has not complied with the agreed order to release the hostages and has provided Israel with information on the status of prisoners remaining in Gaza who were captured when the militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. The company announced that it was in violation of the agreement by failing to do so. .
The conflict centered around one particular hostage, Israeli civilian Arbel Yehud. Yehud was to be among the women released on Saturday as part of an exchange with Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Israel had demanded that female civilians be released before female soldiers.
But on Saturday, four soldiers were released in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners.
Hussein Albatosh, a former leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and rival of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, told the New York Times on Sunday that Yehud was being held by the group’s military wing, the Quds Brigades. . He said Yehud was not released on Saturday for “technical reasons.”
After a day of heated talks to resolve the crisis, Qatar, one of the main mediators between Israel and Hamas, announced near midnight on Sunday that Hamas would hold Yehud and two other hostages until next Friday. announced that it would be handed over to There are three other hostages on Saturday.
Israel confirmed that Yehud would be released on Thursday, along with Israeli military officer Agam Berger and one other hostage. Israel also said it had received a long-awaited list from Hamas detailing the status of the remaining 26 hostages scheduled to be released in the first phase of the deal.
In return, Israel announced it would allow Gaza residents to cross into northern Gaza starting Monday morning.
On Sunday, footage appeared in Palestinian media showing large groups of displaced people waiting to return north near the Netzarim Corridor, a zone built by Israeli forces that bisects Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority’s Wafa news agency reported that Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd waiting to return north west of Nuseirat in central Gaza, killing one person and injuring several others. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at several gatherings of Palestinians in central Gaza, and in a statement said it had accused them of “advancing towards the army and posing a threat to them.” “Suspect.”
One Palestinian, Ghada al-Kurd, 37, said on Sunday he had chosen to remain in central Gaza, despite wanting to return to his homeland in the north. “I’m not going to risk my life,” she said. “Those soldiers can’t be trusted.”
Al Kurd, who left his home and two daughters in Gaza City in the early weeks of the war, wondered again when he would be able to see them again. “We’re all just waiting, feeling stressed and anxious,” she said. “They are toying with our destiny,” she added.
Similar sentiments were expressed among the thousands of Lebanese who tried to return to towns and villages along the Israeli border, despite warnings from the Lebanese and Israeli forces that it was not yet safe.
On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people waited anxiously outside Meis al-Jabal, a village along Lebanon’s southern border.
Ibrahim Hammoud, 41, said he recently watched a video of his home in the village sent to him by a friend in the Lebanese army. The building was standing, which gave him some sense of relief, he said, but the video also showed Israeli tanks stationed just outside the front door.
“I have been away from my village and home for over a year,” Hammoud said in a telephone interview. “I never thought I’d come back.”
The crisis poses a serious test for Lebanon’s new leadership. President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam are seeking to wrest some political control back from Hezbollah and build a functioning state.
Experts have warned that a prolonged Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon could breathe new life into Hezbollah. Hezbollah was founded to liberate Lebanon from Israeli occupation and bills itself as the only force capable of defending Lebanon’s borders.
“As long as Israel has occupied Lebanon, the Hezbollah narrative has been revived,” said Sami Nader, director of the Institute of Political Science at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.
For those who managed to enter villages in southern Lebanon, the scale of the destruction was overwhelming. The Israeli invasion, which began on October 1, 2024 with the aim of annihilating Hezbollah, reduced the entire neighborhood to rubble. The extremist group began firing on Israel the day after the Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war.
In the southern town of Aita al-Shaab, now largely in ruins, residents walked through rubble-strewn streets and past collapsed buildings. Among them was the town’s mayor, Mohamed Sloor, who had been ousted more than a year ago after attacks between Hezbollah and Israel began.
He said Israeli soldiers had not yet completely withdrawn from the town and were firing sporadically at civilians. These claims could not be independently verified. Still, Thrall remained resolute.
“Today, Aita celebrates her long-awaited return,” he said. “Our homes were destroyed and our livelihoods lost, but our will to live was strengthened. We will build again.”
Report contributor: Hiba Yazbek, Iyad Abuheweira, Jonathan Rees, Gabby Sobelman, Myra Novec, Haida Third and Dayana Iwaza.
