Israeli Forces Seize Beaufort Castle in Southern Lebanon Despite Ceasefire

Israeli forces seized the historic Beaufort castle in southern Lebanon on Sunday, making their deepest push inside Lebanon in 26 years despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire and the first direct Israel-Lebanon talks in decades.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah after renewed attacks, while Lebanon accuses Israel of “total destruction.”

Al-Jazeera Net

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of “implementing a policy of total destruction of cities and towns,” as the fighting that began March 2 left more than 3,300 people killed in Lebanon and about 1 million displaced.

The same article said at least 25 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in Lebanon or northern Israel, along with two civilians in northern Israel, and it described Beaufort as a symbolic fort that offers commanding views across Lebanon and into northern Israel.

Orna Mizrahi, a former deputy director in the government’s National Security Council, said, “There’s a feeling of, ‘For what?’ ” as she argued the military’s return feels like Israel is going in circles.

While the Los Angeles Times described the Beaufort seizure as part of a broader push, Middle East Eye reported that Israeli strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Sour, also known as Tyre, were among the most intense bombardment of the area since March.

Middle East Eye said L'Orient Today reported that buildings in the city centre were wholly destroyed and that the strikes wounded multiple people, and it added that Israelis forces bombed the same area in the centre of Sour on Sunday shortly after an initial strike.

BBC

Sky News عربية reported that Israeli air raids on southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed at least 19 people, including four women and three children, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

The same Sky News عربية account said the Israeli army targeted more than 25 Hezbollah infrastructure sites in southern Lebanon between Monday and Tuesday, and it described additional tolls including a strike on Deir Qanoun al-Nahr in the coastal Tyre District that left 10 dead.

In Beirut, the Lebanese government announced that a strike on Deir Qanoun al-Nahr left 10 dead, including three children and three women, while another strike hit Nabatieh killing four people and wounding 10 others, including two women.

As the conflict continued despite the fragile ceasefire, Sky News عربية said the latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel two days after the United States and Israel carried out an attack on Iran.

The same report said the toll came a day after the death toll from the latest round of fighting surpassed 3,000, and it noted that two days earlier the ceasefire brokered by the United States, in place since April 17, was extended for an additional 45 days.

The Los Angeles Times framed the push around Beaufort as complicating an Iran deal, describing Washington’s effort to extend an Iran war ceasefire as Tehran wants it to end fighting in Lebanon too.

It also reported that Israel warned Lebanese civilians across the south to evacuate or risk being in the line of fire, while Hezbollah said it will not accept the terms of any deal.

Against that backdrop, the Los Angeles Times said Israel eventually is likely to relinquish control of the fort, even as Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to make it part of Israel’s permanent security zone in southern Lebanon.