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.

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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.