11 killed, 83 injured by Israeli gunfire in Lebanon

Beirut, Jan 26 The death toll from Israeli gunfire targeting crowds of Lebanese trying to return to their homes in southern Lebanon has risen to 11, with 83 others injured, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Sunday.

Ten of the eleven victims were civilians trying to return to their still-occupied hometowns along Lebanon's southern border with Israel, while the eleventh was a soldier killed in al-Dhahira, also in southern Lebanon, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Conditions are not yet in place for the safe return of citizens to their villages along the Blue Line," Chief of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, and United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said on Sunday in a joint statement following the incident.

"Displaced communities, already facing a long road to recovery and reconstruction, are therefore once again being called on to exercise caution."

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged residents of southern Lebanon on Sunday to exercise restraint and trust the Lebanese Armed Forces to safeguard security and sovereignty.

"This is a day of triumph for justice, sovereignty, and national unity," he said in a statement released by Lebanon's Presidency, calling on citizens to remain composed and rely on the military to ensure their safe return to their homes and towns.

Sunday marks the end of a 60-day deadline for Israel's withdrawal from Lebanese territories. Under a ceasefire agreement reached in late November after months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, the Lebanese army would take control of the areas south of the Litani River, ensuring its security and preventing any presence of weapons and militants.

Despite the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army has continued to carry out strikes in Lebanon, some of which have caused deaths and injuries in the border areas.

Source: IANS