Israel Captures Beaufort Castle, Escalates Lebanon War
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- Israel captured Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon on Sunday, raising an Israeli flag and a Golani Brigade flag for the first time in 26 years.
- White phosphorus smoke was deployed as a screen for advancing Israeli soldiers during the castle’s seizure.
- Beaufort Castle, a Crusader‑era fort used by the PLO and previously bombed in the 1980s, survived earlier Israeli attacks and a 2000 detonation.
- Hussain Alawieh, a south‑Lebanon tour guide, said the flag‑raising caused a shock to him and all southerners, symbolizing psychological domination.
- Fouad Fatimi, mayor of Arnoun, linked the capture to memories of Israel’s 1982‑2000 occupation of south Lebanon.
- Israeli airstrikes intensified, killing at least eight people in Tyre and prompting an evacuation of the city’s Christian quarter.
- Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, announced renewed strikes on Beirut, while Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah warned the group would try to prevent Israeli consolidation.
Why it matters: The seizure gives Israel a tangible propaganda win and a foothold in south Lebanon, while Lebanese civilians lose a historic symbol of resistance and face heightened displacement and casualties as Israeli airstrikes intensify, deepening the humanitarian crisis and increasing regional instability.
