Israeli troops have captured a strategic mountain topped with a Crusader-built castle in southern Lebanon in their deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter century, the military said on May 31.
The capture of Beaufort castle near the city of Nabatiyeh came after days of intense fighting and airstrikes in nearby villages where Israeli troops fought Hezbollah members in the rugged area.
It marks a major gain for Israel in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, which began in early March. Israel and Lebanon have been at war since Israel was created in 1948 and are currently holding direct talks in Washington.
“Forty-four years after the heroic Battle of Beaufort, and on this day commemorating the soldiers who fell in the First Lebanon War, our troops have returned to the summit of Beaufort and once again raised the Israeli flag there,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, in a social media post.
“Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and my direction, the IDF expanded the operations in Lebanon, crossed the Litani River, and captured the Beaufort Ridge, one of the most important strategic points for defending the communities of the Galilee and safeguarding the security of our forces.”
The push to Beaufort came as the Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order to areas south of the Zahrani River, north of the Litani and around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border, warning that it was targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group.
Israeli troops previously captured the castle in 1982 and held it until they withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.
The Israeli push came despite a nominal ceasefire that has been in place since April 17 and just days before the next round of talks are set to be held at the State Department on June 2 and 3.
In recent days, Israel has expanded the scope of its operations in Lebanon sending troops across the Litani River, which previously served as a de facto boundary, and demanding that residents leave much of southern Lebanon.
Israel has designated the area from the Litani up to the Zahrani River a combat zone. Some residents have already left the area due to the intense strikes in recent days, but people remain in many of the area’s towns.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had accused Israel on May 30 of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” in the south, urging a halt to the fighting and warning it was “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile.”
Salam said the outcome of the negotiations was “not guaranteed,” but called them “the least costly path for our country and our people.”
