MES JABAR, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli forces opened fire on protesters in southern Lebanon on Sunday who were calling for a withdrawal under a ceasefire agreement, killing at least 11 people and wounding more than 80, Lebanese health officials reported.

The health ministry said in a statement that the dead included two women and a Lebanese soldier. According to reports, people were injured in more than a dozen villages in the border area.

Demonstrators, some carrying Hezbollah flags, tried to enter several villages to protest against Israel's failure to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon within the 60-day deadline stipulated in a ceasefire agreement that ended Israel's war with Hezbollah in late November.

Israel says it needs to stay longer because the Lebanese army has not yet deployed to all areas of southern Lebanon to ensure Hezbollah does not re-establish a presence in the area. The Lebanese army says it cannot deploy until Israeli troops withdraw.

The Israeli army accused Hezbollah of instigating Sunday's protests.

The company said in a statement that its troops fired warning shots to "neutralize threats in multiple areas where the suspects were approaching." A number of suspects close to Israeli forces have been arrested and are being questioned, the statement added.

"Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable and I am following this issue at the highest levels to ensure your rights and dignity," Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement to the people of southern Lebanon on Sunday.

He urged them to "exercise self-restraint and trust the Lebanese Armed Forces." The Lebanese army said in a separate statement that it was escorting civilians into some towns in border areas and called on residents to follow military instructions to ensure their safety.

The Amal Movement party, led by parliament speaker Nabih Berri, is allied with Hezbollah and served as interlocutor between Hezbollah and the United States during ceasefire negotiations. Berri said Sunday's bloodshed "is a clear and urgent call for the international community to take immediate action to force Israel to withdraw its troops from occupied Lebanese territory."

Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman, posted on

On Sunday morning, he called on residents in border areas not to try to return to their villages.

In a joint statement, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanne Hennessy-Plaschat and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force (UNIFIL) Chief of Mission Lieutenant General Aroldo Lazaro called on Israel and Lebanon to abide by the ceasefire agreement stipulated obligations.

"The fact is that the timelines envisaged in the November memorandum of understanding have not been met," the statement said. "As tragically seen this morning, the conditions for the safe return of citizens to villages along the Blue Line are not yet in place."

UNIFIL said further violence could undermine the fragile security situation in the region and "prospects for stability resulting from the cessation of hostilities and the formation of a government in Lebanon."

The Security Council called on Israel to completely withdraw its troops, remove unauthorized weapons and assets south of the Litani River, redeploy Lebanese troops throughout southern Lebanon, and ensure the safe and dignified return of displaced civilians on both sides of the Blue River. Wire.

An Associated Press team participating in a peacekeeping patrol was trapped overnight at a UNIFIL base near Mes-Jabal after Israeli forces set up roadblocks on Saturday. Journalists reported hearing gunshots and roars from the base on Sunday morning, and peacekeepers said dozens of protesters gathered nearby.

In the village of Aita Al Shaab, families wandered over the flat concrete structures, searching for the remnants of their homes. No Israeli troops were present.

“These are our houses,” said Hussein Bajouk, one of the returning residents. "No matter how much they destroy, we will rebuild."

Bazouk added that he was convinced that former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli attack on Beirut's southern suburbs in September, was indeed alive.

"I don't know how long we have to wait, another month or two... but Saied will come out and speak," he said, using Nasrallah's honorific.

More than 1 million Lebanese were displaced during the war, of whom approximately 112,000 remain displaced.

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Sewell reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Sally Abu Aljod in Beirut and Bilal Hussein in Aita Shahab, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

Karim Chehayeb and Abby Sewell, The Associated Press