BEIRUT, LEBANON — Israeli forces have captured a medieval castle in southern Lebanon which dates back to the Crusader era and raised their flag on the strategic mountaintop, part of Israel's deepest military push into Lebanon in 26 years.
Video showed the Israeli flag fluttering from atop the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle while black smoke billowed from the nearby town of Arnoun. The rapidly expanding Israeli operation, including a swathe of destroyed villages, suggests Israeli forces are planning an extended presence in the region.
Israel previously held the castle during an 18-year-old long military occupation that ended in 2000. A quarter-century later the Israelis are still fighting Hezbollah, the militant group backed by Iran.
In recent days, Israel has rushed in ground troops and intensified air strikes — while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to "crush" Hezbollah — despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that is officially still in place.
The fighting threatens to complicate, or even undermine, the U.S.-Iran efforts to end the war in Iran. Iran says any agreement must also include an end to the conflict in Lebanon.
"Our brave soldiers have captured the Beaufort once again — and they will remain there as part of the security zone in Lebanon," Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the invasion.
"Israel must know that its scorched earth policy, collective punishment and expropriation of villages and towns will not achieve security and stability but will instead deepen the divide with the Lebanese people," he said in an address to the nation Saturday.
Israeli attacks and demolitions have leveled entire villages in southern Lebanon and have now displaced more than 1.2 million people. The Lebanese ministry of public health says more than 3,300 people have been killed, about 20 percent of them women, children and first responders. Israel says two civilians and 23 soldiers plus a military contractor have been killed in Hezbollah attacks. Almost all the soldiers were killed inside Lebanon.
Salam in his speech demanded an immediate ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal. While making clear that there was no guarantee that talks would succeed, he said negotiation was the path to preventing more harm to Lebanon and its people.
Israeli and Lebanese officials have been meeting in Washington even though the two countries have been officially in a state of war for decades. The Lebanese government has agreed that Hezbollah should be disarmed and replaced with national army forces but it does not have the means to do so.
Hezbollah has made clear that it will not disarm while Lebanon is under attack.
A medieval castle, the site of modern battles
The Beaufort Castle was built during the Crusader era in the 12th-century and is an iconic historical site described by UNESCO "as one of the best-preserved examples of medieval castles in the Near East."
The stone castle, set on a hilltop, offers a commanding view of southern Lebanon and northern Israel and has been the scene of repeated modern-day battles in recent decades.
Israel waged a bloody fight to capture the castle in 1982, ousting Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The PLO, and later Hezbollah, both shelled the castle in an attempt to dislodge the Israelis, who remained until they pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000.
Israel said it retook the castle because Hezbollah was using the area to launch attacks on northern Israel. The castle is about nine miles from the Israeli border, gives Israeli forces an overview over much of southern Lebanon and northern Israel. Israel has also intensified operations around the Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, more than 20 miles from the border.
"This is a clear message to our enemies: anyone who threatens Israeli civilians will lose their strategic assets one by one," said Katz, the Israeli defense minister.
Lebanon's culture minister said last week – before the Israelis captured the castle – that it had suffered a direct hit from an Israeli strike.
In the past week, Israel has sent tanks and troops into Lebanon as well as launching hundreds of strikes a day, according to United Nations peacekeepers.
Hezbollah has fired back with a much smaller number of attacks on Israeli forces. The attacks include fiber-optic drones that Israel has difficulty stopping, which have killed several Israeli soldiers.
U.N. figures provided to NPR showed Israel launched more than 3,300 projectiles and airstrikes from May 24 until the afternoon of May 30. It recorded 187 projectiles launched by Hezbollah and its allies during the same time period.
Netanyahu said Friday that Israeli forces have crossed the Litani River. He did not specify the location, but his claim suggests the Israelis are around 20 miles inside southern Lebanon.
Iran helped establish Hezbollah – which the U.S. and Israel designate as a terrorist group – in the 1980s to counter the Israeli invasion in Lebanon. Iran issues almost daily comments in support of Hezbollah, and says peace efforts must address the wars in both Iran and Lebanon.
However, Netanyahu has made clear that he wants to keep attacking Hezbollah.
Netanyahu traveled to Israel's northern border to meet troops on Friday and told them to keep "striking Hezbollah relentlessly. Keep going with great success until the mission is complete."
Israeli and Lebanese military officials met Friday at the Pentagon in Washington to talk about ways to make the ceasefire take hold, but did not report any progress.
The Lebanese side was represented by the country's military, but did not include Hezbollah.
Jane Arraf reported from Beirut and Greg Myre reported from Tel Aviv.
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