Israel has seized Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, a Crusader-era fortress built roughly 900 years ago on a high ridge above the Litani River, as the Israeli military pushes deeper into Lebanese territory and widens its evacuation orders across the country's south.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the capture of the castle and issued a new warning to all residents south of the Zahrani River to leave. "Anyone present near Hezbollah elements, facilities or means of combat endangers their life," an IDF spokesman said. A "significant number of IDF ground soldiers" are involved in the operation, which the spokesman said was "currently expanding to additional areas."
The Zahrani evacuation order is the second such warning issued in recent days. Israeli ground forces are now operating well beyond the Litani River, which had previously served as a demarcation line for the operation. According to BBC News, the current incursion is the deepest Israel has pushed into Lebanese territory in 26 years.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the castle's capture a turning point. "We have broken the barrier of fear. We are taking the initiative, we are operating on all fronts — in Syria, in Gaza, in Lebanon," he said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz connected the seizure to a battle the Israeli army fought at the same fortress 44 years ago. He said the Golani Brigade, which took the castle then, had returned and raised the Israeli flag above it. Katz said control of the castle and the ridge it commands was an important step in protecting Israeli communities across the border.
The fortress has changed hands many times over the centuries and carries significant symbolic weight on both sides of the conflict. For Israel, it represents a strategic high point. For Lebanon, it is the latest historic site to fall into Israeli hands in recent days, as the city of Nabatieh further north also appears to be increasingly in the IDF's sights.
France called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to address the Israeli operations. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the situation was a "major mistake for Israel." "Nothing can justify the prolongation of [Israel's] military operations in Lebanon and its increasingly deep occupation of Lebanese territory," he told French network BFMTV.
Lebanon's Health Ministry reported that 13 hospital staff were injured in an airstrike near Hiram hospital in the city of Tyre on Sunday. The strike caused significant damage to the facility.
