Lebanese people fly Hezbollah flags near an Israeli military vehicle in Borj al-Molouk, after crossing an Israeli roadblock on the road leading to Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon, January 26, 2025. Photo: AFP.
The people of southern Lebanon did not wait long before deciding to return to their towns and villages devastated by Israeli assaults, after the 60-day deadline set for the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the area expired at 4:00 am on January 26, 2025.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced that the Zionist occupation forces would not meet the deadline set for their withdrawal from southern Lebanon, in a breach of the terms of the ceasefire agreement that ended the war, further exposing “Israel’s” aggressive and expansionist nature.
With the deadline expiring, Netanyahu deciding unilaterally to stay, the Israeli army issuing warnings for the Lebanese not to return, and invading Israeli occupation forces continuing to wreak havoc in their towns, the southern Lebanese took it upon themselves to liberate their land from the invaders, with some choosing to erect tents over their demolished homes to cement their presence on their land in the face of Israeli savagery.
Residents of #SouthLebanon forced their way in the early hours of the morning into their hometowns and homes on the border despite the presence of Israeli occupation forces who violated the ceasefire agreement and stayed in Lebanese territory beyond January 26.
Israeli gunfire… pic.twitter.com/OZXvd2X5iM
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 26, 2025
With spontaneous popular calls a day prior, the rightful owners of the land set off in their vehicles and flocked to Lebanese territory invaded by the Israeli military to translate the quote “what was taken by force can only be restored by force” into real action.
Unarmed and on foot, southern Lebanese men, women, elders, and children broke the barriers erected to prevent them from reaching their land and stood strong in the face of the Israeli war machine, with its forces and vehicles, confronting them with revolutionary chants, flags of Lebanon and Resistance groups, photos of their martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the sake of defending Lebanon, spearheaded by martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s former Secretary-General, who was cowardly assassinated by “Israel” in late September 2024.
In an absolute show of defiance, a Lebanese woman stands in front of Israeli occupation soldiers in South #Lebanon.
Israeli bullets intended to intimidate did not faze the woman who reiterated that this land belongs to her and the Lebanese people. pic.twitter.com/fYtEh67KVQ
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 26, 2025
Israeli occupation forces responded by doing what they know best: mobilizing their troops and vehicles to suppress the popular resistance, opening fire on the unarmed Lebanese people, killing 22, including Lebanese soldiers, injuring more than 100, and detaining others.
Stealing Water: Israel’s Covert War on Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan
In one instance and in yet another blatant and documented Israeli assault, a Merkava tank went after unarmed Lebanese civilians in Odaisseh, who were trying to return home following the end of the 60-day withdrawal deadline for Israeli occupation forces as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement reached on November 27, 2024.
Circulating video documents the moment an Israeli drone dropped a grenade near unarmed civilians in South #Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/r3mZUF30MV
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 26, 2025
However, even as the tank pursued and opened fire on the people, one defiant hand rose, flashing the victory sign in the face of the Israeli aggressor, declaring that no amount of firepower can suppress the will to reclaim what is justly theirs.
So, undeterred and with their heads held high, the resilient southern Lebanese defied Israeli terrorism and stood fearlessly in the face of the Israeli troops and tanks, insisting on liberating every inch of their land, before the raiding forces retreated from swathes of these areas in the face of their might.
The residents of #BintJbeil return to their homes after the deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from #SouthLebanon had officially expired as per the ceasefire agreement.
Filmed by colleague Hussein Sayed@HusseinHsayed #LebanonCeasefire#Lebanon https://t.co/geOdEqgFtd
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 26, 2025
The scenes of January 26 are reminiscent of those from the year 2000, after a human flood, in parallel with military operations by the Lebanese Resistance, liberated the South from the Israeli occupation and arrogance.
Today’s scenes also brought back to life the scenes of the proud Lebanese people returning to their towns and villages in the South after the Resistance dealt “Israel” a severe blow and repelled its aggression on Lebanon in 2006.
They returned ready to stay on the rubble of their homes destroyed by the brutal Israeli war machine.
Citing a phrase from the speech of martyr Sayyed Nasrallah at the celebration of the victory of July 2006: “Our honorable people… Today, you astonish the world once again, proving beyond doubt that you are a proud, loyal, and courageous nation,” the Military Media Unit of the Islamic Resistance hailed the return of the southern Lebanese to their villages.
