Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israeli forces’ capture of Beaufort castle in southern Lebanon marked a “dramatic shift” in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Today, we have returned to Beaufort in a different way. We have returned united, determined, and stronger than ever,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, AFP reports.
“The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading. We have broken the barrier of fear. We are taking the initiative, we are operating on all fronts – in Syria, in Gaza, in Lebanon.”
On Sunday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that Beaufort castle is “a symbol of a heroic battle for our fighters, but was also a symbol of deep division between us.”
The military’s return feels like Israel is going in circles, Orna Mizrahi, a former deputy director in Israel’s National Security Council, told AP. “There’s a feeling of, ‘For what?’” she said.
The word “Beaufort” summons a sense of victory for the Israeli military that captured it in 1982, but also symbolises the high price to defend the site before it was handed over in 2000, said Mizrahi, now a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies.
Israel will likely relinquish control of the fortress eventually, she said, even as defence minister Israel Katz vowed to make it part of Israel’s permanent security zone in southern Lebanon.
The military’s presence there will not solve the issue with Hezbollah, Mizrahi said: “Yes, we are damaging them in the operations, but in parallel we need to pursue a political and diplomatic solution.”
Some more on France calling for a UN security council meeting on Lebanon following Israel’s deepening occupation of areas of the country, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the French news channel BFMTV that “Nothing can justify the continuation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon and an ever-deeper occupation of Lebanese territory.”
Lebanese foreign minister Youssef Raggai said he had spoken with Barrot, who “reaffirmed France’s solidarity with Lebanon, its commitment to the full respect of its sovereignty, and its support for direct negotiations as the only path toward a lasting solution.”
Barrot said he had requested the convening of the security council because Israel’s capture of Beaufort castle represented a further escalation. It constituted a “grave mistake” and a violation of international law, he said.
Israel’s expanded operation in Lebanon would give it an upper hand in the next week’s talks with Washington, Beirut geopolitical analyst Joe Macaron told AP.
“We are at a tipping point,” Macaron said, adding that it is still too early to say how Hezbollah will react to the loss of land. “The more land they (the Israeli military) can grab before the ceasefire, the more they can impose conditions on Hezbollah before their withdrawal.”
Following the capture of Beaufort, Israel has continued striking further south, near Tyre, including near the Hiram Hospital. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 13 health workers were wounded in the strike. Elsewhere, a strike in Deir al-Zahrani near Nabatiyeh killed eight people and wounded 16 others, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio is expected to announce a new ceasefire deal between Lebanon and Israel following political track negotiations in Washington Tuesday, the Lebanon Broadcasting Corporation International reported, citing sources.
Talks are due to take place on 2 and 3 June in Washington. A ceasefire has been in place since 17 April, however both sides have repeatedly broken it, accusing each other of aggression actions provoking response.
A former IDF commander of Beautfort Ridge, the 900-year-old castle and strategic ridge taken by Israeli forces in Lebanon, has warned Israelis against romanticising its capture.
In an interview in Hebrew with the Israeli news website Walla, Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Avman said: “The conquest of the ridge is tactical excellence that covers up strategic helplessness. From the point of view of the United States, Iran and Lebanon are tied to each other by an ancestral bond.”
Avman was a commander of Beaufort Bridge when Israeli forces used the fortress as a base during its previous occupation of Lebanon between 1982 and 2000.
He criticised the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli government’s handling of the war in Lebanon, suggesting there was no strategic purpose in capturing the fortress and putting an Israeli military flag on the castle.
“What happens tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? What happens when the soldiers remain there for another week or two? Where are the convoys bringing logistics? How do you provide them with water and ammunition? How do you protect them against IEDs and explosive drones? And that is why the romance of the images from Beaufort will turn, within days, into strategic stagnation,” he said.
In his weekly address from the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, Pope Leo has urged world leaders to sincerely pursue a “fair and lasting peace”.
Leo wished for the “divine Wisdom to enlighten the conscience of those in authority and guide their decisions toward the sincere pursuit of a fair and lasting peace”, adding that in the past month the whole church prayed for peace.
“Dear brothers and sisters, throughout this month of May, a unanimous invocation for peace has risen from the entire Church, especially through the prayer of the Holy Rosary. Like an unbroken chain, it has entrusted the peoples tortured by war to the intercession of the Virgin Mary,” he said.
Iran has restored gas production at three offshore platforms in the South Pars gas field that had been forced to halt output after Israeli attacks disrupted processing capacity at some onshore facilities, the chief executive of the Pars Oil and Gas Company told state media on Sunday.
Touraj Dehqani said the platforms had not been damaged. He said production from the three platforms was being routed to other processing plants in the region while repairs continue at damaged facilities, including the Phase 14 refinery.
Read my colleague Jillian Ambrose’s report on the Israeli strikes, which took place on 18 March.
Scenes from the conflict in Lebanon today:
An Israeli strike near a hospital in Tyre, south Lebanon wounded 13 staffers, the Lebanese health ministry said, AFP reports.
“The Israeli enemy launched an airstrike in the vicinity of Hiram Hospital in Tyre, injuring 13 hospital staff members and causing significant damage,” the ministry said in a statement, urging “the international community to put an end to the escalating and expanding Israeli attacks”.
Israel has stepped up its offensive in Lebanon this weekend, with evacuation orders in place for large parts of the south of the country.
Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said troops will remain in Beaufort as part of Israel’s security zone in Lebanon, Reuters reports, without providing further detail.
In an earlier post on X, Katz said: “At the direction of prime minister Netanyahu and at my direction, the IDF expanded the manoeuvre in Lebanon, crossed the Litani River, and captured the Beaufort ridge – one of the most important strategic points for defending the settlements of the Galilee and safeguarding the security of our forces.
“Today, the veil of secrecy imposed on the operation to prevent information from reaching the enemy has been lifted. This is a clear message to our enemies: whoever threatens Israeli citizens will lose their strategic assets one after another. I salute the Golani fighters and all IDF fighters who wrote another chapter of Israeli heroism in the place where our heroes fell for the homeland.”
Reached by the Guardian after Israeli troops captured the 900-year-old Beaufort castle and its strategic ridge in southern Lebanon – their deepest incursion into the country in more than 26 years- Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center said: “Israel is aiming at capturing strategic points by controlling the same positions which the IDF used to exert control over the occupied territories prior to its 2000 withdrawal.”
“Taking over Nabatiyeh will constitute a blow to the morale of Hezbollah and its support base.’’
About the fears among Lebanese of a virtual annexation, Ali said: “Given the level of destruction in the so called yellow zone, the range of possibilities is between denying the return of the population, and annexation/settlement in a similar fashion to the West Bank. Annexation is no longer a wild conspiracy theory, there are ministerial statements to this effect from Israel’s finance and national security ministers, among others.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israeli forces’ capture of Beaufort castle in southern Lebanon marked a “dramatic shift” in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Today, we have returned to Beaufort in a different way. We have returned united, determined, and stronger than ever,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, AFP reports.
“The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading. We have broken the barrier of fear. We are taking the initiative, we are operating on all fronts – in Syria, in Gaza, in Lebanon.”
France has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations security council after Israeli forces seized the medieval Beaufort castle in Lebanon, the French foreign minister said Sunday, AFP reports.
“I have requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council because, while we recognise Israel’s right, like that of all countries, to self-defence… nothing can justify the continuation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon and its ever-deeper occupation of Lebanese territory,” Jean-Noel Barrot said on the BFMTV channel.
Following the capture of Beaufort, the Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order to areas south of the Zahrani river, north of the Litani and around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border, warning that it was targeting Hezbollah, AFP reports.
“For the sake of your safety, we direct this to all residents located south of the Zahleh River – as indicated on the map – that you must evacuate your homes immediately,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
“Anyone present near Hezbollah elements, facilities, or combat means endangers their life. Any building used by Hezbollah for military purposes may become subject to targeting!”
Lebanon’s state news agency reported a series of strikes on the outskirts of the southern city of Tyre, including a strike near a hospital, as well as strikes on several southern villages.
It also said civil defence workers in the Tyre region received phone calls from the Israeli army telling them to evacuate.
Here are some of the pictures of Israel’s capture of Beaufort Castle in Lebanon, which marks a major push by Israeli forces into its neighbour’s territory. The images are handouts from the Israeli military.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
