The Israeli Army has this Sunday taken control of the historic Beaufort Castle, in a new step to consolidate the invasion of southern Lebanon initiated in March. The operation takes place in the midst of the resumption of fighting against the militias of the Shiite party Hezbollah, in the context of the Iran war, and marks the return of Israeli forces, 25 years later, to this millenary fortress from the time of the Crusades, of enormous symbolic weight and military relevance.
The Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, has highlighted the significance of the conquest through a message in which he emphasizes the historical weight of the enclave, known by the Arabs as Qalat al Shaqif. The castle was one of the central scenes of the Lebanon war of 1982, where intense fighting took place between the Israeli Army and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which ended with the victory of Israel and the establishment of a military position that was maintained until the year 2000.
"Forty-four years after the heroic battle of Beaufort, and on the day of commemoration of the martyrs of the War for the Peace of Galilee, the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces, led by the Golani Brigade, have returned to the summit of Beaufort and raised the flag of Israel again," Katz has proclaimed.
In 2024, UNESCO included the castle in its list of protected sites, along with four other bastions of Mount Amel, described as "a rich architectural heritage forged by the traditions of the Crusaders, the Ayyubids, and the Mamluks." In its file, the UN body highlights that Qalat al Shaqif is "one of the best-preserved castles from the time of the Crusades."
In addition to its historical value, Beaufort constitutes one of the key military positions in southern Lebanon. Built on a steep rocky ridge next to a 90º turn of the Litani River, its altitude offers a wide visual command over much of the southern Lebanese territory, an area that Israel practically considers secured and that, as already happened almost 50 years ago, will be used as an advanced base to drive the expansion of the invasion of Lebanon announced this week by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli plans set as the next objective the Zahrani river, about 15 kilometers north of the Litani, according to the forced evacuation orders that the Army has been sending to the Lebanese population since the weekend. "Any movement towards the south could put your lives in danger," the military institution has warned in a mass notification addressed to residents who remain between both rivers.
As a sign of the intensity of the offensive, the official Lebanese news agency NNA has indicated that the town of Deir Zahrani, located less than a kilometer south of the river of the same name, has been suffering since last night heavy Israeli bombardments, mainly concentrated in the Arab neighborhood near the Town Hall building.