Israeli forces captured the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon on Sunday, raising the Israeli and Golani Brigade flags over the strategic fortress. The seizure marks a significant escalation in the 2026 Lebanon War, which rapidly expanded in March following a major Israeli ground offensive in response to renewed Hezbollah rocket strikes.
Triggered by the capture and deepening incursion, the Israeli military issued a sweeping mandatory evacuation order for all civilians located south of the Zahrani River and north of the Litani River. This directive drastically expands the designated combat zone as the regional conflict continues to displace civilian populations.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam aggressively condemned the invasion, describing the military expansion as a “scorched earth policy” of “collective punishment.” Internationally, France has formally requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to address the Israeli incursion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the capture a “dramatic shift” in the campaign against Hezbollah.
This marks Israel’s deepest military incursion into Lebanon in 26 years. Israel previously occupied the Crusader-built fortress for 18 years before officially withdrawing its forces in the year 2000. Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Israeli troops will remain stationed at the castle as part of a new “security zone in Lebanon.”
The toll of the ongoing conflict continues to mount. According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, the conflict’s death toll since March has reached 3,371 people across Lebanon. Concurrently, the Israeli military reported one soldier was killed by a Hezbollah drone on Saturday, bringing its total military death toll in the current campaign to 25.