Israeli forces killed 22 people and wounded 124 others Sunday when displaced residents of southern Lebanon defied Israel's decision not to withdraw from border villages and tried to return home.

Demonstrators, some carrying Hezbollah flags, attempted to enter several villages to protest Israel’s failure to withdraw by the 60-day deadline.

Any prolonged Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon could breathe new life into Hezbollah, a group that was founded to liberate Lebanon from Israeli occupation and has portrayed itself as the only force capable of protecting Lebanon’s borders,

Israeli troops fired on people trying to return home to southern Lebanon and delayed a return home for northern Gaza residents. Israel blamed Hezbollah and Hamas.

Lebanon said 11 people were killed on Sunday in southern Lebanon, where tensions mounted after the deadline expired for Israeli troops to withdraw as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Iranian-allied Lebanese Hezbollah movement.