BEIRUT: Israeli forces attacked while trying to return citizens who had migrated from the southern region of Lebanon, resulting in the martyrdom of 22 people.
According to a report by the news agency Reuters, Lebanese officials said that Israel had ordered the evacuation of citizens in southern Lebanon and after its deadline expired, citizens were returning under the orders of the Israeli army when the Zionist forces attacked.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed in a statement that 22 people were martyred and 124 were injured in the attack by Israeli forces in the southern region and that the Israeli army is still occupying the said area while the citizens were trying to enter there.
The Israeli army said in its statement that the army deployed in southern Lebanon had fired warning shots to eliminate the threats in several areas and that several people were also arrested.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television also aired videos from southern Lebanon, showing civilians heading to their areas, holding the group’s flags and pictures of slain Hezbollah fighters.
Lebanon’s US-backed army accused Israel of delaying the withdrawal of its forces and said one of its soldiers had also been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Israel had previously said it would keep its troops in southern Lebanon even after a deadline passed under a US-brokered deal.
Israel had said Lebanon had not yet met the conditions for Hezbollah to withdraw from southern Lebanon and that Lebanese troops would be deployed there.
Tensions between Hezbollah and Israel had reached a peak since the start of the Gaza war, when Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was also killed in an attack.
Millions of civilians had fled the conflict-torn Lebanese region during the war.
