The Israeli navy has captured a strategic, Crusader-era castle in southern Lebanon, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered troops to deepen Israel’s incursion into its neighbor’s territory.
The seize of the Beaufort Castle, close to town of Nabatiyeh and roughly 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) from the Israeli border, comes after days of fierce combating within the space.
“The operation is focused on establishing operational control of the Beaufort Ridge and the Wadi al-Saluki area,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated in a press release Sunday, including that it sought to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in each areas.
The castle, which was constructed by the Crusaders on a excessive cliff overlooking the Litani River some 900 years in the past, has lengthy been thought-about a strategic web site in southern Lebanon and has been occupied by Israeli forces throughout earlier conflicts. Israel final held it 26 years in the past.
“The operation began several days ago, during which a significant number of IDF ground soldiers commenced offensive operations aimed at expanding the Forward Defense Line,” the IDF stated.
“From Beaufort Ridge, Hezbollah terrorists managed military and combat activities and carried out numerous attacks,” it stated.
On Saturday, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli air raids and “intense bombardment” within the space surrounding the castle. Hezbollah additionally claimed to have destroyed an Israeli tank close to the castle.
Three days in the past, the Arnoun Municipality denounced Israeli bombing within the space and urged worldwide organizations to guard the castle, NNA reported.
Netanyahu lauded the operation on Sunday, saying “we returned to Beaufort stronger than ever.”
“Our brave fighters captured the Beaufort outpost. They proudly raised the flag of the State of Israel and the flag of the Golani Brigade there,” Netanyahu stated. He added that the seize of Beaufort is a “dramatic stage and a dramatic change in the policy we are leading.”
The Beaufort Castle has been described by UNESCO as “as one of the best-preserved examples of medieval castles in the Near East.” It was additionally one in all 34 Lebanese cultural properties that UNESCO granted provisional enhanced safety—the very best stage of immunity towards any assault or utilization for navy functions—in late 2024, after Israel’s floor invasion of Lebanon.
The castle was the positioning of intense combating between the Israeli navy and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1982 when Israel occupied southern Lebanon. It sustained “significant damage” through the 18-year occupation earlier than the Israeli navy withdrew in 2000, in response to UNESCO.
Despite the US-mediated ceasefire agreed by the Israeli and Lebanese governments in April, clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have intensified.
Israel has in current days expanded its operation, pushing deeper into Lebanese territory, and Netanyahu stated on Friday that Israeli forces have crossed the Litani River, which runs round 15-20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Israel’s border.
Netanyahu stated Sunday that “now my directive is to deepen and expand our hold on areas that had been under Hezbollah’s control.”
The IDF stated in its assertion Sunday that it had “expanded its operations against Hezbollah targets north of the river” and in “additional areas.” It has issued a collection of evacuation orders for villages north of the Litani in current days.
As properly as the seizure of Beaufort Castle, the IDF stated later Sunday it had struck what it stated have been weapons storage amenities and command facilities of Hezbollah within the coastal Tyre space and different areas throughout southern Lebanon.
The intensifying fight between Israel and Hezbollah could put in danger any settlement between the United States and Iran, which is insisting that it embrace a ceasefire in Lebanon. US President Donald Trump informed Netanyahu final week that he supported its “freedom of action against threats on all fronts, including Lebanon,” an Israeli official informed NCS.