Netanyahu Calls Beaufort Capture a ‘Dramatic Shift’ in Lebanon Offensive
Netanyahu said the military move signals a broader escalation in strategy. In a video statement released after the takeover, he said: “we have returned united, determined and stronger than ever”.
He added: “Now my directive is to deepen and expand our hold in places that were under Hezbollah’s control. The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading.”
According to reports, Hezbollah responded by launching attacks on Israeli military positions and infrastructure in the northern towns of Shlomi and Nahariya, with air raid sirens reported in the Acre region.
The wider conflict has continued to escalate despite a truce intended to halt hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on April 17. However, according to reports, the ceasefire has not been effectively implemented, with both sides accusing each other of repeated violations and using those claims to justify continued strikes.
Lebanon’s involvement in the broader regional conflict deepened on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in retaliation for earlier actions attributed to US-Israeli strikes that reportedly targeted senior Iranian leadership.
France has called for urgent international intervention, with reports indicating that it requested an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council amid growing concern over what it described as Israel’s “ever-deeper occupation of Lebanese territory”.
Beaufort Castle, also known as Qalaat Al Chakif, has historical military significance and was previously used by Israeli forces during their long occupation of southern Lebanon, which ended in 2000.
In statements cited by reports, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed that troops had taken control of the strategic high ground overlooking southern Lebanon.
He said: “Forty-four years after the heroic Battle of Beaufort, and on this day commemorating the soldiers who fell in the First Lebanon War (1982), our troops have returned to the summit of Beaufort and once again raised the Israeli flag there.”
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