Israeli forces capture Beaufort Castle in Lebanon in deepest incursion in 26 years

Israeli troops have captured a strategic mountain topped with a crusader-built castle in southern Lebanon in their deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter of a century.

The capture of Beaufort Castle, near the city of Nabatieh, came after days of intense fighting and airstrikes in nearby villages where Israeli troops fought Hezbollah members in the rugged area.

The capture of the castle marks a major gain for Israel since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began in early March, and as the two countries that have been in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948 hold direct talks in Washington.

Lebanon’s prime minister Nawaf Salam has accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” in the south, urging a halt to the fighting and warning it was “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile”.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has continued to strike Israeli forces near the fortress and Israeli positions in northern towns.

The fighting in Lebanon has been the broadest spillover of the Iran war, displacing more than 1.2 million Lebanese through Israeli strikes and evacuation orders since 2 March, when Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones into Israel to back its ally Iran.

Read more: <a href=”https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-orders-troops-further-into-lebanon-following-day-of-heavy-fire-by-hezbollah/fln4mzy7u” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-orders-troops-further-into-lebanon-following-day-of-heavy-fire-by-hezbollah/fln4mzy7u

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