Fires are being tested in the fragile Middle East as thousands try to return home

Fragile firefights in Lebanon and Gaza, Israeli forces on Sunday prevented Palestinians from going home, saying that the people in southern Lebanon were killed, and that Israel and Hamas violated the terms of the truce.

But by the end of the day in Gaza, Israel and Hamas said understandings had been reached through mediators to resolve their dispute.

In Lebanon, the White House announced on Sunday that an arrangement for an initial truce calling for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon would be extended until February 18.

The ceasefire in Lebanon, signed in November, was hoped to be permanent by now, providing a measure of calm to the hitherto turbulent region. Thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war poured into the roads leading south, returning home.

But as the original deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the withdrawal of Hezbollah Hezbollah forces passed, a very different scenario was taking shape. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli forces killed at least 22 people and 120 others in its south, making it the deadliest day in the country since it ended in November.

The Israeli military on Sunday issued “warning images to eliminate threats” – a formulation that suggested the footage could be more than just warnings. There were “dozens of rioters” in the region. The military said its soldiers defaced “a vehicle with Hezbollah flags” and that its forces were “working to eliminate the threat.”

In recent days, Israeli officials have caused concern Hezbollah remains active in southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese military has doubts about its ability to re-evaluate the group.

These claims could not be independently verified. Information on the compliance of the five-member committee overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire with Hezbollah has not been released.

Sunday’s White House statement made no specific mention of Hezbollah or Israel’s military presence in the south. The governments of Lebanon, Israel and the United States have called for a regional war, saying that in October 2023 they will begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners who attacked Israel.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, the Lebanese government or Hezbollah.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, warned in a statement on Sunday that it was “an opportunity to prevent the situation from worsening”. He called on the Israeli army not to fire on civilians and for the Lebanese to follow the directives of the Lebanese military.
“More violence risks undermining the fragile security situation,” he said.

In a statement late Sunday, the Israeli military said it “continues to understand the understanding between Israel and Lebanon despite Hezbollah’s attempts to return to Lebanon.”

Tens of thousands of Israelis who evacuated their homes in the north 15 months ago did not want to return, fearing attacks from Hezbollah on the border.

On Sunday, civilians displaced by the war in the Gaza Strip looked like they were returning home. Israeli troops prevented them Israeli officials blamed Hamas for violating the terms of the ceasefire agreement that came into force a week ago.

Under the conditions of the initial phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreed to this monthIsrael was allowed to withdraw some of its forces and allow hundreds of thousands of defective boilers to start from the north a second later Hostage and prisoner exchange on Saturday.

The Israeli government, Hamas, and the military on October 7, 2023 attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, when they agreed to not report the status of prisoner releases and the status of enemies captured in Gaza.

There is one particular hostage in the dispute, Arbel Yehud, an Israeli civilian. Ms. Yehud was believed to be among the women released on Saturday as part of an exchange held in Israeli prisons. Israel demanded the release of female civilians before female soldiers.

But on Saturday, Four soldiers were released In exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners.

A smaller militant organization in Gaza, Hussein al-Batsh, an official and one-time rival of Hamas, said on Sunday the New York Times’ Ms. Yehud was in control of the group’s military wing, the Qubad Brigades. He said Ms Yehud was not being released on Saturday “due to a technicality”.

After Qatar, one of the main mediators between Israel and Hamas, Qatar’s close to midnight on Sunday, Hamas Yehud and the following Friday, two other hostages and another three hostages on Saturday after working on the next Friday.

Israel confirmed that Ms. Yehud would be released on Thursday, along with Agam Berger, an Israeli soldier and another hostage. Israel also said it had received a long-awaited list from Hamas of the status of the 26 hostages remaining in the first phase of the deal.

In return, Israel said it would allow Gazans to cross into northern Gaza, starting Monday morning.

On Sunday, images of a large crowd of Palestinians approaching a mandatory Netzarim Corridor – A zone divided by Israeli forces in Gaza, to return to the North was circulated in the Palestinian media.

The Palestinian Authority’s Wafa news agency reported that one person was killed and several others were wounded west of Nuseirat after it opened fire on a crowd of people waiting to return from the north. The Israeli army said its troops fired warning shots at several gatherings of Palestinians in central Gaza as “suspicious persons advancing towards the troops” threatened them. “

Ghada al-Kurd, 37, said she chose to stay in Central Gaza on Sunday despite longing to return home in the north. “I will not risk my life,” he said. “Those soldiers cannot be trusted.”

Ms. Al-Kurd, who left her home in Gaza City in the first weeks of the war, leaving behind her two daughters, became curious again when she finally saw them. “Here we are just waiting, feeling stressed and anxious,” he said. “They are playing with our destiny,” he said.

Similar sentiments were expressed among thousands of Lebanese trying to return home to towns and villages along Israel’s border, despite warnings from the Lebanese and Israeli militaries.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people waited outside Meiss al-Jabal, a village along Lebanon’s southern border.

41, said he recently saw a video sent by a friend in the Lebanese army inside the village: The structure was permanent, although the video only showed an Israeli tank outside the front door, he said.

“I have been away from my village, my home, for more than a year, more than a year,” Mr. Hamoud said in a telephone conversation. “I never thought I’d be back.”

The crisis poses a critical test for Lebanon’s new leaders. President Joseph Aoun and to appoint a prime minister Hello NawafAs they try to wrest some political control back from Hezbollah and build a functioning state.

Experts have warned that any Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon could breathe new life into Hezbollah, a group set up to liberate Israel from occupation and described as the only force that protects Lebanon’s borders.

“As long as Israel is occupying Lebanon, it is reviving the narrative of Hezbollah,” said Sami Nader, director of the Institute of Political Science at Saint Joseph University.

For those who managed to enter their villages in southern Lebanon, the scale of destruction was extreme. Entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble in an Israeli occupation aimed at crippling Hezbollah. The militant group began firing into Israel a day after a Hamas attack set off the war in Gaza.

Most in the southern city of Aita al-Shaba now lies in ruinsresidents walked through rubble-strewn streets and flattened buildings. Among them, Mohammad Srour became the mayor of the city, which was displaced a year before the strikes between Hezbollah and Israel.

He said that Israeli soldiers had not yet fully withdrawn from the settlement and that civilians were not being fired upon sporadically. The allegations could not be independently verified. Still, Mr. Srour remained adamant.

“Today, AITA marks a long-awaited turnaround,” he said. “Houses are being destroyed and livelihoods are gone, but our survival is stronger. We will rebuild.”

Contributed by the reporter Wrong Yazbek, Iyad Abuheweila, Jonathan Reiss, Gabby Sobelman, Myra Noveck, Hwaida Saad and Stop it.