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Israel kills at least 15 in south Lebanon on day army was due to withdraw

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Israel kills at least 15 in south Lebanon on day army was due to withdraw
The Israeli army has killed at least 15 people in southern Lebanon on the day its forces were due to withdraw under a ceasefire deal, according to health officials.

In a statement, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said on Sunday that at least 83 people were also wounded as the Israeli army opened fire as people tried to return to their homes.

The death toll included a Lebanese soldier, according to a statement by Lebanon’s army.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee had issued a statement telling residents of more than 60 villages in southern Lebanon to not go back.

The Israeli killings violate a ceasefire agreement reached in November, under which its forces were supposed to withdraw from Lebanon at 02:00 GMT on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Lebanon for the delay, saying Hezbollah has not pulled back sufficiently from the border region. Lebanon denies the claim and has urged Israel to respect the deadline.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army was to deploy alongside the United Nations peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdrew from the area over the 60-day period.

Hezbollah agreed to pull back its forces north of the Litani River, about 30km (19 miles) from the border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

The deal, brokered by the United States and France in November, ended more than a year of fighting triggered by Israel’s war on Gaza.

Lebanon parliament’s Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal Movement party is allied with Hezbollah, said in a statement that Sunday’s bloodshed “is a clear and urgent call for the international community to act immediately and compel Israel to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories”.

Berri had served as a mediator between the group and the US during ceasefire negotiations.

Meanwhile, in a joint statement, the UN envoy in Lebanon and the chief of the UN peacekeeping mission to Lebanon (UNIFIL) said conditions are “not yet in place” for the safe return of Lebanese citizens to southern Lebanon.

They said the timelines set under the ceasefire deal were not met, urging recommitment from both Israel and Lebanon.

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