Israeli troops are stationed in southern Lebanon.

Israeli forces have carried out more than 500 operations in southern Lebanon in the two months since they agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, and local residents are bracing for more damage as Israeli troops plan to delay their withdrawal.

After more than a year of conflict, Israel signed a cease-fire agreement with the Lebanese armed group in 2010. It has carried out regular attacks since it took effect on November 27.

The non-profit ACLED has counted 515 operations since the start of the ceasefire until January 17. These include air and drone strikes, as well as more than 206 destruction of property in 39 villages. According to the Financial Times, at least 37 people were killed.

According to the reconciliation agreement, Israel was to bring out its weapons on Sunday. Lebanon And Hezbollah was to move its weapons north of the Litani River, 30 km from the Defato border, to be replaced by Lebanese forces. But the Israeli government said on Friday that the army would stay in Lebanon beyond the deadline, and officials discussed a 30-day extension.

For residents of Lebanon’s border communities – many of whom have been unable to return – Israel’s continued occupation leaves them unsure of when they will be able to go home and what they will find when they do.

“They took advantage of the ceasefire,” said Mohammed Srour, the mayor of Aita el-Chab, about the Israeli destruction in his border village. “Before the ceasefire, they were firing artillery and airstrikes. But after the ceasefire they entered the village on the ground and the biggest part of the destruction came later. “

Some of the villagers are losing patience and planning to return on Sunday regardless of the danger. “Whatever happens happens,” said Najib Hussain Halawi, a local official in Kafar Qila, another community whose residents were displaced. “There is a lot of danger, but what can you do? “Sit there and shut up?”

Israeli officials say their actions are in line with the ceasefire and that Hezbollah still has operatives and infrastructure in the area, while the LF is unable to deploy enough to drive the militants out.

Unable to return to his village, Srur sought refuge in the north, but met with family and friends who had returned to assess the damage.

“Aita is a danger,” he said about the village that remained under Israeli occupation near the border, the “blue line” demarcated by the United Nations that separates the two countries. He said most of the houses were destroyed, infrastructure was bulldozed and everything from houses of worship to schools fell off the map.

Hezbollah has warned Israel not to test its “patience” and last month fired rockets into Israeli positions in the disputed Sheba agricultural region, which has “repeatedly” violated the ceasefire.

Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun, said this month that “suppressing homes and destroying border villages is completely against the ceasefire.” UN peacekeeping forces this month cited Israel’s “indiscriminate violation” of LAF observation posts and UN border markers.

The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment on its activities since the ceasefire. But on Thursday, Hezbollah said it had “stockpiled weapons and fired hundreds of rockets and anti-tank missiles into Israel” and that troops had carried out operations to “remove threats.” He said they found more than 30 caches of weapons, weapons stored in apartment buildings, courtyards, nurseries and basements.

Local residents say Israel’s disintegration is a daily reality. In December and early January, footage of Israeli bulldozers appeared to be demolishing homes around the border village of Nakura.

LAF entered Nakura January 7 But the city’s mayor, Abbas Awada, said residents were waiting to announce that the army had removed unexploded ordnance before returning.

Before the ceasefire agreement was reached, the Israeli army was already there. Damaged buildings near the border. Although they have left more than a dozen villages in the west and center of the border, they remain mostly in the eastern part.

Local business owner Musa Hayuk lost his home along with his poultry farm and timber farm in Aita shortly after the ceasefire began. After fleeing the city to the southern suburbs of Beirut, he saw the devastation he witnessed from other residents who returned briefly to survey the village.

“Their goals are well known and we support them,” Hayuk said, adding that Israel’s campaign, despite its ties to Hezbollah, has carried out mass executions against residents.

The conflict began in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing into Israel following an attack by Hamas. The year of cross-border fire escalated dramatically when Israel launched a ground invasion and devastating attack on Hezbollah in October last year.

More than 4,000 people and 140 Israelis were killed in Lebanon. 1 million people were displaced in Lebanon and 60,000 in Israel.

Human Rights Watch researcher Ramzi Kays said the existence of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure invalidates many of the measures Israel takes under international law.

“There are serious questions about whether that level of destruction is necessary, even if there are military objectives in those villages, such as tunnels used by Hezbollah,” he said. Contrary to what some Israeli officials want to say, not all border villages can be considered military targets.

Among the most powerful ruins are located in the village of Halawi in Kfar Qila. “There are explosions every day,” Halawi said. He estimated that most of the damage was done after the ceasefire. Israel was “crossing too many borders,” he said.