MAYS AL-JABAL, Lebanon — Israeli forces in southern Lebanon opened fire Sunday on protesters demanding their withdrawal in line with a ceasefire agreement, killing at least 22 and injuring 124, Lebanese health officials reported.

The dead included six women and a Lebanese army soldier, the Health Ministry said in a statement. People were reported wounded in nearly 20 villages in the border area.

The development comes as Israel kept thousands of Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza on Sunday, accusing Iran-backed Hamas of violating a fragile ceasefire by changing the order of hostages it has released. Local health officials said Israeli forces fired on the crowd, killing two people and wounding nine.

In Lebanon, demonstrators, some of them carrying Hezbollah flags, attempted to enter several villages to protest Israel’s failure to withdraw from southern Lebanon by the 60-day deadline stipulated in a ceasefire agreement that halted the Israel-Hezbollah war in late November.

Israel has said it needs to stay longer because the Lebanese army has not deployed to all areas of southern Lebanon to ensure that Iran-backed Hezbollah does not reestablish its presence. The Lebanese army has said it cannot deploy until Israeli forces withdraw.

The Israeli army blamed Hezbollah for stirring up Sunday’s protests.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement addressing the people of southern Lebanon on Sunday that “Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable, and I am following up on this issue at the highest levels to ensure your rights and dignity.”

He urged them to “exercise self-restraint and trust in the Lebanese Armed Forces.”

The Lebanese army, in a separate statement, said it was escorting civilians into some towns in the border area and called on residents to follow military instructions to ensure their safety.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal Movement party is allied with Hezbollah and who served as an interlocutor between the militant group and the U.S. during ceasefire negotiations, said Sunday’s bloodshed “is a clear and urgent call for the international community to act immediately and compel Israel to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories.”

An Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli military, Avichay Adraee, posted on X that Hezbollah had sent “rioters” and is “trying to heat up the situation to cover up its situation and status in Lebanon and the Arab world.”

He called Sunday morning for residents of the border area not to attempt to return to their villages.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon; and Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, the head of mission of the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, called in a joint statement for both Israel and Lebanon to comply with their obligations under the ceasefire agreement.

“The fact is that the timelines envisaged in the November Understanding have not been met,” the statement said. “As seen tragically this morning, conditions are not yet in place for the safe return of citizens to their villages along the Blue Line.”

UNIFIL said further violence risks undermining the fragile security situation in the area and “prospects for stability ushered in by the cessation of hostilities and the formation of a government in Lebanon.”

In Gaza under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Israel was to begin allowing Palestinians to return to their homes Saturday in northern Gaza through the Netzarim corridor bisecting the territory. Israel put that on hold until Hamas frees a civilian hostage who Israel said should have been released Saturday. Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement.

Crowds of people carrying their belongings filled a main road leading to a closed Israeli checkpoint.

“We have been in agony for a year and a half,” Nadia Qasem said.

Fadi al-Sinwar, also displaced from Gaza City, said “the fate of more than a million people is linked to one person,” referring to the Israeli hostage, Arbel Yehoud.

Israeli forces fired on the crowds on three occasions overnight and into Sunday, killing two and wounding nine, including a child, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.

Israel’s military said it fired warning shots at “several gatherings of dozens of suspects who were advancing toward the troops and posed a threat to them.”

Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza under the ceasefire, which went into effect last Sunday. The military has warned people to stay away from its forces, which still operate in a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border and in the Netzarim corridor.

Hamas freed four female Israeli soldiers Saturday, and Israel released about 200 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks. But Israel said Yehoud should have been released ahead of the soldiers.

In a statement, Hamas said it had told mediators — the U.S., Egypt and Qatar — that Yehoud was alive and provided guarantees that she would be released.

A spokesman for Gaza’s second-largest militant group, Islamic Jihad, later said the dispute over Yehoud had been settled. Mohamed al-Hajj Mousa said the group told mediators she will be released before Saturday.

But an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes talks, said there was still no deal.