Israel opens fire as 95 civilians and fighters killed in war are buried in Aitaroun

People mourned Friday, in the southern border town of Aitaroun, their loved ones killed in Israeli airstrikes during hostilities that lasted more than a year between Israel and Hezbollah.

The 95 civilians and Hezbollah members had been temporarily buried outside their hometown as the Israeli military remained in an area of dozens of border towns past its withdrawal deadline.

Israeli soldiers remained in many villages south of the Litani river after a ceasefire agreement was reached in late November and many families who wanted to bury their dead deep in southern Lebanon were unable to do so.

The Lebanese Health Ministry and military had allocated a plot of land in the coastal city of Tyre for bodies to be temporarily laid to rest, until the situation near the border calms down.

The trucks carrying the coffins wrapped in Hezbollah or Lebanese flags were greeted Friday with rice and flowers on their way to Aitaroun where an official burial was held.

During the funeral, Israeli soldiers opened fire at the village's southern outskirts.

Meanwhile, new prime minister Nawaf Salam was visiting areas near the border that suffered wide destruction during the war to call for an Israeli withdrawal and promised residents of border villages a safe return to their homes and reconstruction.

Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes and later escalated the conflict into a full-blown war in late September.

More than 4,000 people were killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million were displaced at the height of the conflict.

Israeli troops remain today on five "strategic hills" in south Lebanon. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Israel has received a U.S. green light to "indefinitely" keep its forces on the hills.