Israeli forces killed 15 people in southern Lebanon on Sunday, Lebanese authorities said, as thousands tried to return home in defiance of Israeli military orders as a withdrawal deadline passed.

Israel said on Friday it would keep troops in the south beyond the deadline for a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that ended last year's war with Hezbollah, saying Lebanon had not fully implemented terms that required southern Lebanon to be free of Hezbollah weapons and Lebanese. Troops to be deployed.

The U.S.-backed Lebanese military reported on Sunday that a Lebanese soldier had been killed by Israeli troops and accused Israel of delaying its withdrawal.

Hezbollah's conflict with Israel coincides with the war in Gaza and culminated in a massive Israeli offensive that displaced more than a million people in Lebanon and severely weakened the Iran-backed group.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said that 15 people were killed and 83 injured in various places in the south when Israel launched attacks on citizens trying to enter still-occupied towns.

The Israeli military said its forces "operated in southern Lebanon and fired warning shots in some areas where suspects were seen approaching troops to neutralize the threat." It also said that "a number of suspects who posed an imminent threat" had been arrested.

Hezbollah's Mannar television, which broadcasts from several locations in the south, showed footage of residents moving toward villages early Sunday, some carrying the group's flags and photos of Hezbollah fighters killed in the war.

An Israeli military spokesman addressed the people of southern Lebanon on the

Hezbollah places the blame on the Lebanese state for ensuring Israel's withdrawal.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanon was committed to the ceasefire but that Israel, backed by the United States, had turned against it. The White House said on Friday that a short-term, temporary extension of the ceasefire was urgently needed.

"What is happening in the border villages is the liberation of people's power, and our people will not be overwhelmed by the Israeli army," he told Reuters. "We want the state to fully function and the army to be deployed to the villages."

“We work with it to further its mission.”

The top U.N. official in Lebanon and the head of U.N. peacekeepers in the south said conditions for the safe return of Lebanese citizens to villages near the border "are not yet in place." "The fact is that the timetable envisaged in the ceasefire" has not yet been met, they said in a statement.

The agreement provides for a 60-day implementation period.

President Joseph Aoun, commander of the Lebanese army, called on the people of the south to exercise self-restraint and trust the Lebanese army before parliament elected him as head of state on January 9.

"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," he said in a statement.

Israel has not said how long its forces will stay in the south, where the Israeli military says it has been seizing Hezbollah weapons and dismantling its infrastructure.

Israel says the offensive against Hezbollah is aimed at ensuring the return of tens of thousands of Israelis forced from their homes across the border by Hezbollah rocket attacks.

When the war in Gaza broke out on October 8, 2023, Hezbollah opened fire in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas.