Israel Warns Residents on Both Sides of Lebanon Border to Stay Away

The Israeli military issued new warnings to residents on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border on Friday, telling them not to return to their homes, as the fragile U.S.-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to largely hold despite another Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.

The military released a list of more than 60 towns in southern Lebanon that it said remained off-limits to civilians, including large centers like Bint Jbeil, Marjeyoun and Naqoura, the home of the U.N. peacekeeping force in the country. The country’s hard-hit south has been the focal point of the war.

The Israeli military “does not intend to target you and therefore you are prohibited at this stage from returning to your homes,” said Avichay Adraee, a military spokesman, in a statement posted online directed at residents of the towns. “Anyone who moves south of this line puts himself in danger.”

It is not clear when hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese will be able to return to their homes in the south. Under the cease-fire agreement that took effect on Wednesday, Israeli forces will gradually withdraw from southern Lebanon over 60 days.

In his first address since the truce, Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s leader, argued that the war with Israel, lasting almost 14 months, had been a victory for the Iran-backed militia — a difficult proposition given the blows Hezbollah sustained, including the assassination of its previous chief, Hassan Nasrallah.

“We are looking at a great victory,” Mr. Qassem said in a televised speech from an undisclosed location. “We are victorious because we prevented the enemy from destroying Hezbollah, and because we prevented him from quashing the resistance or critically weakening it.”