Three people were killed and 44 others injured by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese government said, as residents of villages near the border defied orders by Israel’s military not to return to their homes.

By Laila Bassam and Alexander Cornwell BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli forces killed 22 people in south Lebanon on Sunday as a deadline for their withdrawal passed and thousands of people tried to return to their homes in defiance of Israeli military orders,

Israeli troops killed 22 people in south Lebanon on Sunday including a soldier, health officials said, as residents tried to return home on the day Israel was meant to withdraw under a truce deal. It said 22 people including six women and a soldier were killed and 124 more wounded.

The initial ceasefire plan, announced in late November, brought an end to 14 months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Brokered by the US and France, the agreement gave Hezbollah 60 days to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon and required Israeli forces to withdraw over the same period.

The White House said that a ceasefire involving Israel and Lebanon had been extended in a Sunday statement. The ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, announced by former President Biden in November,

Israeli forces killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more in the country’s south, Lebanese officials said. Israel had agreed to withdraw its troops from the area as of Sunday.