UN Envoy: Conditions 'Not Yet in Place' for Safe Return of Lebanese Citizens to South

Ambulances and Lebanese army members stand as UNIFIL and Israeli vehicles are seen in the background, in Burj al-Muluk, near the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, where Israeli forces remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed as residents sought to return to homes in the border area, Lebanon January 26, 2025. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
Ambulances and Lebanese army members stand as UNIFIL and Israeli vehicles are seen in the background, in Burj al-Muluk, near the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, where Israeli forces remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed as residents sought to return to homes in the border area, Lebanon January 26, 2025. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
TT
20

UN Envoy: Conditions 'Not Yet in Place' for Safe Return of Lebanese Citizens to South

Ambulances and Lebanese army members stand as UNIFIL and Israeli vehicles are seen in the background, in Burj al-Muluk, near the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, where Israeli forces remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed as residents sought to return to homes in the border area, Lebanon January 26, 2025. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
Ambulances and Lebanese army members stand as UNIFIL and Israeli vehicles are seen in the background, in Burj al-Muluk, near the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, where Israeli forces remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed as residents sought to return to homes in the border area, Lebanon January 26, 2025. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher

Conditions are 'not yet in place' for the safe return of Lebanese citizens to southern Lebanon, according to a joint statement by the top UN official in Lebanon and the chief of the UN peacekeeping mission to Lebanon on Sunday.

They said that the timelines set under the US-brokered ceasefire that halted last year's war with Hezbollah were not met, urging recommitment from both Israel and Lebanon.

The statement comes after Israeli forces killed several people and injured scores trying to return to homes in south Lebanon where Israeli troops remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed on Sunday.

“As seen tragically this morning, conditions are not yet in place for the safe return of citizens to their villages along the Blue Line. Displaced communities, already facing a long road to recovery and reconstruction, are therefore once again being called on to exercise caution,” United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro said in the statement.

“Compliance by both parties with their obligations under the November Understanding and the full implementation of resolution 1701 constitute the only way to bring closure to the recent, dark chapter of conflict and open a new one, heralding security, stability and prosperity on both sides of the Blue Line,” they said.

“The United Nations continues to engage all actors towards this end and remains ready to support any action consistent with resolution 1701 and the efforts of the Implementation Mechanism to achieve the objectives of the November Understanding,” the statement said.

“With so much at stake for both Lebanon and Israel, recommitment is urgently needed from all sides,” it added.



Trump Says He Expects Hamas Decision in 24 Hours on 'Final' Peace Proposal

Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
TT
20

Trump Says He Expects Hamas Decision in 24 Hours on 'Final' Peace Proposal

Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

US President Donald Trump said on Friday it would probably be known in 24 hours whether the Palestinian group Hamas has agreed to accept what he has called a "final proposal" for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump said on Tuesday Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.

He was asked on Friday if Hamas had agreed to the latest ceasefire deal framework, and said: "We'll see what happens, we are going to know over the next 24 hours."

A source close to Hamas said on Thursday the group sought guarantees that the new US-backed ceasefire proposal would lead to the end of Israel's war in Gaza.

Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out. Dozens of Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza authorities.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show.

Gaza's health ministry says Israel's subsequent military assault has killed over 56,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.

A previous two month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18. Trump earlier this year proposed a US takeover of Gaza, which was condemned globally by rights experts, the UN and Palestinians as a proposal of "ethnic cleansing."