The Lebanese president's office had put out a statement earlier Sunday denying that there was an extension.
Israeli forces killed at least 22 protesters and injured 124 others who were demonstrating as part of their demand for the withdrawal of the troops from their land, in line with a ceasefire agreement. The Lebanese Health Ministry stated that people were wounded in nearly 20 villages in the border area, and at least six women along with a Lebanese army soldier were also among the dead.
The White House said Sunday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend the deadline for Israeli troops to depart southern Lebanon until February 18, after Israel requested more time to withdraw beyond the 60-day deadline stipulated in a ceasefire agreement that halted the Israel-Hezbollah war in late November.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel the day after Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, ignited the war in the Gaza Strip. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are allies of Iran, and Hezbollah said that it was acting in solidarity with the Palestinians. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes, and the sides traded fire for more than a year. The war escalated in September and killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians.
Some 112,000 Lebanese remain displaced, out of over 1 million who fled their homes during the war.
According to the White House, Israel has said that it needs to stay longer because the Lebanese army has not deployed to all areas of southern Lebanon to ensure that Hezbollah does not reestablish its presence in the area.
On the other hand, the Lebanese army has said it cannot deploy until Israeli forces withdraw.
The White House said in a statement that 바카라the arrangement between Lebanon and Israel, monitored by the United States, will continue to be in effect until February 18, 2025.바카라 It added that the respective governments 바카라will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after October 7, 2023.바카라
Associated Press reported that there was no immediate comment from the Israeli government. The Lebanese president's office had put out a statement earlier Sunday denying that there was an extension.
Hundreds of demonstrators with some carrying Hezbollah flags, attempted to enter several villages to protest Israel's failure to withdraw from southern Lebanon by the 60-day deadline stipulated in a ceasefire agreement that halted the Israel-Hezbollah war in late November.
Israel in response has said that it needs to stay longer because the Lebanese army has not deployed to all areas of southern Lebanon to ensure that Hezbollah does not reestablish its presence in the area.
The Lebanese army has said it cannot deploy until Israeli forces withdraw, reported AP.
The Israeli army blamed Hezbollah for stirring up Sunday's protests.
It said in a statement that its troops fired warning shots to 바카라remove threats in a number of areas where suspects were identified approaching.바카라 It added that a number of suspects in proximity to Israeli troops were apprehended and were being questioned.
The development in Lebanon comes as Israel kept thousands of Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza on Sunday, accusing Hamas of violating a fragile ceasefire by changing the order of hostages it has released.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement addressing the people of southern Lebanon on Sunday that 바카라Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable, and I am following up on this issue at the highest levels to ensure your rights and dignity바카라.
He urged them to 바카라exercise self-restraint and trust in the Lebanese Armed Forces.바카라
The Lebanese army, in a separate statement, said it was escorting civilians into some towns in the border area and called on residents to follow military instructions to ensure their safety.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal Movement party is allied with Hezbollah and who served as an interlocutor between the militant group and the US during ceasefire negotiations, said that Sunday's bloodshed 바카라is a clear and urgent call for the international community to act immediately and compel Israel to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories바카라.
An Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli military, Avichay Adraee, posted on X that Hezbollah had sent 바카라rioters바카라 and is "trying to heat up the situation to cover up its situation and status in Lebanon and the Arab world.바카라
He called Sunday morning for residents of the border area not to attempt to return to their villages.
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the head of mission of the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, Lt Gen Aroldo Lázaro, called in a joint statement for both Israel and Lebanon to comply with their obligations under the ceasefire agreement.
바카라The fact is that the timelines envisaged in the November Understanding have not been met,바카라 the statement said. 바카라As seen tragically this morning, conditions are not yet in place for the safe return of citizens to their villages along the Blue Line.바카라
UNIFIL said that further violence risks undermining the fragile security situation in the area and "prospects for stability ushered in by the cessation of hostilities and the formation of a government in Lebanon바카라.
It called for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops, the removal of unauthorised weapons and assets south of the Litani River, the redeployment of the Lebanese army in all of south Lebanon and ensuring the safe and dignified return of displaced civilians on both sides of the Blue Line.
An AP team was stranded overnight at a UNIFIL base near Mays al-Jabal after the Israeli army erected roadblocks Saturday while they were joining a patrol by peacekeepers. The journalists reported hearing gunshots and booming sounds Sunday morning from the base, and peacekeepers said that dozens of protesters had gathered nearby.
In the village of Aita al Shaab, families wandered over flattened concrete structures looking for remnants of the homes they left behind. No Israeli forces were present.
바카라These are our houses,바카라 said Hussein Bajouk, one of the returning residents. 바카라However much they destroy, we will rebuild.바카라
Bajouk added that he is convinced that former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs in September, is really still alive.
바카라I don't know how much we're going to wait, another month or two months... but the Sayyed will come out and speak,바카라 he said using an honorific for Nasrallah.
On the other side of the border in the kibbutz of Manara, Orna Weinberg surveyed the devastation of the recent conflict on her neighbors and the Lebanese villages on the other side of the frontier. The sound of gunfire sporadically popped in the distance.
바카라Unfortunately, we have no way of defending our own children without harming their children," Weinberg, 58, said. "It's a tragedy to all sides.바카라
(With AP inputs)