In a significant escalation of its cross-border conflict with Hezbollah, Israeli forces have raised the national flag over the medieval Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon as part of a broader expansion of ground operations deeper into Lebanese territory, official announcements and on-the-ground reporting confirmed Friday.
Agence France-Presse correspondents on site observed the Israeli banner flying above the centuries-old fortress, with the sound of artillery shelling echoing across the surrounding hills and plumes of smoke rising from nearby areas. The site holds deep strategic and historical significance for both sides: it served as a key Israeli military base during the country’s 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000, and it was the site of a famous 1982 battle during the First Lebanon War.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the capture of the strategic high point in a social media post Friday, timed to coincide with the annual commemoration of Israeli soldiers killed in the 1982 First Lebanon War. “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,” Katz wrote. He added that under the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his own leadership, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had crossed the Litani River and seized Beaufort Ridge, a position that provides sweeping panoramic views of southern Lebanon and northern Israel’s Galilee region. “This is one of the most important strategic points for defending the communities of the Galilee and safeguarding the security of our forces,” Katz noted.
The advance on Beaufort came alongside a mass evacuation order issued by the IDF for all civilian areas south of the Zahrani River, a waterway located roughly 25 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border, north of the Litani River. The military warned it is conducting targeted operations against the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group, which has launched near-daily attacks on northern Israel since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023. “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!” IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote in a social media statement.
On Saturday, the IDF confirmed that a large contingent of ground troops had launched offensive operations to push its forward defense line deeper into Lebanon, with operations expanding into additional areas of the southern part of the country. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has condemned the expanded offensive as a deliberate “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” targeting Lebanese civilians. “It is destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile,” Salam said, urging an immediate ceasefire to halt the violence.
The military escalation comes amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the conflict, with U.S.-brokered security talks between Israeli and Lebanese military delegations held in Washington Friday, with additional political negotiations scheduled for next week. Salam acknowledged that the outcome of the negotiations remains uncertain, but called the diplomatic track “the least costly path for our country and our people.”
A nominally binding truce between Israel and Hezbollah was supposed to enter into force on April 17, but the agreement has been almost universally violated by both sides. Each side accuses the other of daily breaches of the ceasefire, using the other’s attacks to justify retaliatory strikes. The U.S. statement issued after Friday’s talks made no public mention of the failed truce, only noting that “productive military-to-military discussions” would lay groundwork for next week’s political negotiations. Hezbollah has repeatedly voiced firm opposition to direct bilateral talks with Israel.
On Saturday, Hezbollah announced it had launched multiple coordinated attacks targeting northern Israeli positions and engaged in direct ground clashes with IDF troops in several towns across southern Lebanon, including Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, Yohmor al-Shaqif and Dibbine. The group claimed Israeli forces had “not yet succeeded in taking control of the towns” amid the fighting.
The IDF reported that more than 25 projectiles were fired from Lebanese territory into northern Israel on Saturday, triggering air raid sirens in the northern cities of Karmiel and Safed — the first time sirens have sounded in those urban centers since the April truce went into effect. Public broadcaster Kan released user-generated footage showing rockets falling into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Nahariya, a northern Israeli coastal city near the border, forcing panicked beachgoers to flee the area.
On Sunday, the IDF confirmed that one Israeli soldier had been killed a day earlier in a Hezbollah explosive drone attack, pushing the total number of Israeli military personnel killed in operations in Lebanon since early March to 25. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon have killed more than 3,371 Lebanese people since March 2, the vast majority of whom are civilians.