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.

Israeli soldiers have killed 22 people and wounded 124 in southern Lebanon, the health ministry says, as the Israeli military remained deployed past a deadline for their withdrawal and Hezbollah's removal from the area. Thousands of residents returned to towns and villages near the border, despite warnings that the region was unsafe.

Israel said it would keep troops in the south beyond the Sunday deadline because the Lebanese army had not yet fully deployed to ensure that Hezbollah does not reestablish its presence in the area.

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,

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli fire killed two people Monday and wounded 17 others in the south, in a second day of violence as residents tried again to return to

Twenty-four people were injured in two Israeli drone attacks on southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Tuesday. Twenty people were injured in an Israeli attack on the market town of Nabatiyeh,

Israeli strikes wounded 24 people in south Lebanon Tuesday despite a ceasefire in force for more than six weeks, the Lebanese health ministry said. The first strike hit the southern town of Nabatiyeh al-Fawqa,