Hezbollah and the Amal Movement on Tuesday condemned Sunday’s motorbike rallies by their supporters that stirred tensions in Beirut and other areas.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has announced that the ceaesfire agreement's violation by Israel "highlights Lebanon's need for the resistance," adding that so-called army-people-resistance equation is "still steadfast despite the talk of haters."

In a pre-recorded speech aired Monday, Qassem added that his group won’t accept the extension of the ceasefire deadline, without addressing the fact that the Lebanese government had already done so overnight.

An Israeli government spokesman on Monday stressed Israel’s “commitment” to the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon but added that “Hezbollah must withdraw beyond the Litani River.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Monday slammed what he called the “provocative” and “sectarian” behavior of the Hezbollah supporters who staged overnight motorbike rallies in Gemmayze, Ain el-Rummaneh, Dora, Bourj Hammoud, Saqiyet al-Janzir and Maghdoushe, warning that “extremism fuels counter-extremism.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has commented on Sunday’s incidents in south Lebanon by saying that “the current government has once again proved that it is nonexistent and the Axis of Defiance has demonstrated that it does not value people’s lives.”

The ceasefire arrangement between Lebanon and Israel, monitored by the United States, will continue to be in effect until February 18, the White House said late Sunday.

"The Government of Lebanon, the Government of Israel, and the Government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after October 7, 2023," the White House added, referring to the Hezbollah fighters who were captured by Israel during the September-November war.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Sunday that it is "very concerned about reports of Lebanese civilians returning to villages where" Israeli forces are still present and of "casualties due to Israeli fire."

Israeli troops fired at residents of south Lebanon on Sunday, killing 22 and wounding 124, health officials said, as hundreds of people tried to return to their homes on the deadline for Israeli forces to withdraw from the area.

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

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro on Sunday issued a statement commenting on the situation in south Lebanon after Israel refrained from withdrawing its troops prior to the January 27 deadline.

The Lebanese army said Sunday that it was escorting civilians into some southern Lebanese border towns and called on residents to follow military instructions to ensure their safety, as Israeli gunfire killed at least three of the returnees and wounded 44 others.