by Akiva Von Koningsveld
Israel Defense Forces soldiers reportedly fired warning shots toward the Hezbollah supporters.
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IDF troops operating against Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon, Oct. 5, 2024. Credit: Israel Defense Forces. |
Hundreds of Lebanese, including supporters of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization, attempted to return to the country’s south on Sunday, the final day of the Israel-Lebanon truce of Nov. 27.
Israel Defense Forces soldiers stationed in the area fired warning shots at the approach of the Hezbollah supporters, some of whom carried the group’s flag and banners of slain terror leader Hassan Nasrallah, the Israeli military confirmed in a statement on Sunday afternoon.
“Several suspects who posed a credible threat were detained near IDF forces. The suspects are currently being interrogated in the area,” it said. “The IDF will remove any threat to the State of Israel and IDF forces.”
IDF sources cited by Kan News said that the Lebanese did not appear to have come to the area with the intention of resettling villages destroyed during the war, but solely to demonstrate and create provocations.
“The one who sent the rioters to Southern Lebanon is Hezbollah, which is trying to heat up the situation in order to cover up its situation and its status on the Lebanese and Arab level,” Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the head of the Arab Media Branch in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, said in a statement.
Beirut’s Health Ministry claimed that 15 people were killed and 83 wounded in the incidents. The Lebanese Armed Forces said that at least one of its troops was killed and another was wounded by Israeli fire.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, and Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, head of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said in a joint statement on Sunday that “the timelines envisaged in the November Understanding have not been met.
“As seen tragically this morning, conditions are not yet in place for the safe return of citizens to their villages along the Blue Line [U.N.-delineated border],” they noted, calling on the Lebanese to “exercise caution.”
Earlier on Sunday, Adraee called on the Lebanese to refrain from returning to the south as long as IDF units remain deployed there.
“Hezbollah puts its narrow interests above the interests of the Lebanese state and, through its mouthpieces, attempts to heat up the situation, despite being the main reason for the south’s destruction,” he tweeted.
Adraee stressed that “all previously published instructions remain in effect,” adding that Jerusalem would inform them when they could return to the south once the removal of Hezbollah was completed.
“The IDF remains deployed in various locations in Southern Lebanon, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement, to enable the gradual and effective deployment of the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces], dismantling and removing Hezbollah elements and terror infrastructure, preventing it from returning and re-establishing its presence in the area,” the military spokesman stated.
The LAF in a statement stressed it was “standing with citizens in the face of the Israeli enemy, which continues to refuse to abide by the ceasefire agreement and withdraw from Lebanese territory.”
Following Israel’s announcement on Friday that it would not withdraw all of its forces from Lebanon by the Sunday deadline, Hezbollah warned it would consider the truce effectively terminated, while the Lebanese government urged the Trump administration to intervene.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Friday: “The IDF’s withdrawal process is conditional on the Lebanese Army deploying in Southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani [River].
“Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the State of Lebanon, the phased withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States,” the PMO statement continued.
Jerusalem “will not endanger its communities and citizens, and will insist on the full implementation of the objective of the fighting in the north, which is the safe return of residents to their homes,” it added.
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement on Friday that “a short, temporary ceasefire extension is urgently needed.”
U.S. President Donald Trump “is committed to ensuring Israeli citizens can safely return to their homes in northern Israel, while also supporting [Lebanese President Joseph] Aoun and the new Lebanese government,” Axios quoted the spokesman as saying.
Akiva Von Koningsveld
Source: https://www.jns.org/hundreds-of-lebanese-return-to-south-as-idf-withdrawal-delayed/
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