Residents cannot yet safely return to border areas in southern Lebanon, the United Nations announced on Sunday. She responded to a statement by the Lebanese Ministry of Health, which reported that at least 15 people had been killed in Israeli attacks in the area, writes TASR, according to an AFP report.
“This morning we saw that the conditions for the safe return of citizens to their villages along the Blue Line have not yet been created,” UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a joint statement with the head of the UN peacekeeping mission. The Blue Line is an unofficial demarcation line. , which separates Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights, was drawn up by the UN in June 2000 to determine whether Israel had fully withdrawn from the Lebanon.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adrai said on Sunday that soldiers “fired warning shots in several areas where they identified incoming soldiers”. According to him, the troops detained several individuals who posed an immediate threat and then underwent interrogation, he added.
The UN deploys peacekeeping forces
UN troops announced that they were deploying peacekeepers in areas marked by the Lebanese army. At the same time, however, they urged civilians to follow the instructions of the Lebanese army for their own safety. It also called on Israeli forces to avoid firing on civilians, warning against “undermining the fragile security situation in the area”.
On Sunday, January 26, the 60-day deadline for Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon, according to the November ceasefire agreement with the Hezbollah militant movement, passed. Subsequently, it was planned to deploy Lebanese army units in the south together with UN peacekeeping forces. At the same time, Hezbollah was supposed to withdraw to the territory north of the Lítání river and eliminate all remaining military infrastructure in the south of the country.
Israel announced on Friday that the withdrawal of troops from southern Lebanon would take more than 60 days. “Since Lebanon is not yet fully implementing the ceasefire agreement, the process of gradual withdrawal (of troops) will continue in cooperation with the United States,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
