While thousands are trying to return to their homes, the ceasefire in the Middle East seems fragile

Lebanese officials said that the ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza seemed increasingly fragile on Sunday after the Israeli forces killed dozens of people in southern Lebanon, while Israel prevented the Palestinians in Gaza from returning to their homes, saying that Hamas violated the conditions of the ceasefire agreement. truce.

In Lebanon, the negotiators were hoping that the ceasefire, which was signed in November, would always be, to ensure a amount of calm in a troubled area. Thousands of Lebanese who were displaced by the war on the roads leading to the south flowed back to their homes.

But as the deadline passed on Sunday for the withdrawal of the Israeli forces and the forces of the Hezbollah armed group from southern Lebanon, a completely different scenario began to be formed. The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that the Israeli forces have killed at least 22 people and wounded 120 others in southern Lebanon, making Sunday the most bloody days in the country since the war ended in November.

The Israeli army said in a statement late Sunday that it launched “warning shots to eliminate threats” – a formula indicating that the shots may have been more than just warnings. She said there were “dozens of rioters” in the area. The army also said that its soldiers had monitored a “vehicle carrying Hezbollah flags” and that its forces “worked to remove the threat.”

In recent days, Israeli officials have done this He expressed his fears Hezbollah is still active in southern Lebanon and has doubts about the ability of the Lebanese army to restrain the group.

These allegations could not be independently verified. The five -year committee supervising the implementation of the ceasefire did not publish any public information related to Hezbollah’s compliance with the conditions of the armistice.

In a statement on Sunday, the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, warned that “it is necessary to avoid further deterioration.” He called on the Israeli army to avoid shooting civilians, and called on the Lebanese to abide by the directives of the Lebanese army.

The statement added that “more violence threatens to undermine the fragile security situation.”

The Israeli army said in its statement late on Sunday that it was “determined to continue working in accordance with understanding between Israel and Lebanon, despite Hezbollah’s attempts to return to southern Lebanon.”

Tens of thousands of Israelis, who were evacuated from their homes in northern Israel, are frequent 15 months ago, for fear of Hezbollah attacks across the border.

In the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the civilians who were displaced due to the war were prevented from returning to their homes. Israeli forces Prevented them From doing this after Israeli officials accused Hamas of violating the conditions of the ceasefire agreement that entered into force a week ago.

Officials from both sides said they were in contact with mediators to try to solve the crisis, and it is one of the most important crises between the two parties since the ceasefire has led to a temporary stop at least to fight 15 months after the devastating war.

According to the conditions for the initial stage of the ceasefire in Gaza Agreed this monthIt was expected that Israel would withdraw some of its forces and allow hundreds of thousands of Gaza, displaced to go north after the second attack. Exchange of hostages and prisoners on saturday.

The Israeli government said that Hamas violated the agreement not to adhere to the agreed order to release the hostages and its failure to provide Israel with information about the situation of prisoners who were still in Gaza and who were captured when the militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israeli officials said that, under the agreement, it was supposed to be one of the hostages, an Israeli civilian, Erbil Jews, among the released women on Saturday as part of the exchange of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Hamas released four Israeli soldiers and Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners – but the location of Mrs. Jews was not clear.

Hussein Al -Batsh, an official in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, a smaller armed organization and competing with the Hamas movement in Gaza, told the New York Times on Sunday that Mrs. Jews were being held by the Al -Quds Brigades, the group’s military wing. He said that Mrs. Jews was not released on Saturday for “technical reasons.”

Mr. Al -Batsh said that the leading leaders of Islamic jihad participated in discussions with the brokers. The group spokesman, Muhammad Al -Haj Moussa, said in a statement that Mrs. Jews will be released before next Saturday to allow the residents of the displaced Gaza to return to the north as soon as possible.

Israel denied reaching any agreement on the return of Mrs. Jews. An official familiar with the details said on Sunday evening that contacts with the brokers are continuing, and reiterated that Israel would not allow the residents of the displaced Gaza to move north until the issue of the release of Mrs. Jews is resolved.

On Sunday, pictures of a large crowd of Palestinian displaced people were waiting for near Natsarim Corridor – The area built by the Israeli forces, which divides Gaza into two parts – to return to the north, was circulated in the Palestinian media.

The Wafa News Agency of the Palestinian Authority stated that a person was killed and a number of others wounded in the center of the Gaza Strip wounded after the Israeli forces shot a crowd of people who were waiting for a return north. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the reports.

Palestinian Ghada Al -Kurd, 37, said that she chose to stay in central Gaza on Sunday despite her longing to return to her home in the north. She said, “I will not risk my life.” “These soldiers cannot be trusted.”

The Kurdish lady, who left her home and two daughters in Gaza City in the first weeks of the war, continued to wonder again when she could see them in the end. She said, “We are only waiting here, and we feel tense and anxious.” “They are playing with our fate.”

Similar feelings were expressed among thousands of Lebanese who were trying to return to their homes in the towns and villages along the Israeli border, despite the warnings of the Lebanese and Israeli armies that doing so is not safe yet.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people have ever been patience outside the village of Mays Al -Jabal, a village located on the southern border of Lebanon.

Ibrahim Hammoud, 41, said that he recently seen a video sent by a friend of the Lebanese army at his home inside the village: The building was standing, which provides him with a degree of rest, although the video also showed an Israeli tank stationed abroad. His front door said.

“I was far from my village, and from my house, for more than a year,” Hammoud said in an interview on the phone. “I never thought I would be back.”

The crisis constitutes a decisive test for the new leaders of Lebanon, Mr. President Joseph Aoun And the Prime Minister in charge Nawaf SalamAt a time when they seek to restore some political control from Hezbollah and build an active state.

Experts warn that any long -term Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon can transmit a new life in Hezbollah, the group that was established to liberate Lebanon from the Israeli occupation, which portrayed itself as the only force capable of protecting the borders of Lebanon.

“As long as Israel occupies Lebanon, it revives Hezbollah’s speech,” said Sami Nader, director of the Institute of Political Science at St. Joseph University in Beirut.

For those who managed to enter their villages in southern Lebanon, the scale of destruction was huge. Entire neighborhoods have turned into rubble in the Israeli invasion that started on October 1, 2024, which was aimed at paralyzing Hezbollah. The armed group began shooting at Israel a day after the Hamas attack, which led to the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

And in the town of Aita, the southern people, most of them Now lies in ruinThe residents walked in the streets where the rubble was scattered and next to the destroyed buildings. Among them was Muhammad Sorour, the mayor of the town, who was displaced more than a year after the start of the strikes between Hezbollah and Israel.

He added that the occupation soldiers have not completely withdrawn from the town, and that they were shot intermittently at civilians. These allegations could not be independently verified. However, Mr. Sorour remained firm.

He said: “Today, Al -Aita celebrates the long -awaited return.” “The houses have been destroyed and livelihoods were cut off, but our will in life is stronger. We will build again.”

It contributed to the preparation of the reports Yazik’s mistake,, Iyad Abu Hawila,, Jonatan Reese,, Gabi Supman,, Mira Novik,, Howaida Saad and Diana Ewza.