Israel captures Beaufort Castle in its deepest Lebanon incursion in 26 years

Israeli forces captured Beaufort Castle, the strategic hilltop fortress overlooking the Litani River in southern Lebanon, in what officials called the country's deepest incursion into Lebanon in 26 years. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the operation on Sunday as a "dramatic shift" in the campaign against Hezbollah, declaring that "we returned to Beaufort stronger than ever" and that Israeli troops had "proudly raised the flag of the State of Israel and the flag of the Golani Brigade there." Built by Crusaders some 900 years ago, the castle sits about 14 kilometres from the Israeli border near Nabatieh.

The seizure capped days of fighting as Israel pushed troops across the Litani, which had served as a de facto boundary, and Netanyahu called to extend Israel's hold over areas previously controlled by Hezbollah further north. Following the capture, the military issued a sweeping evacuation order for areas south of the Zahrani River, and Defence Minister Israel Katz said troops would remain at Beaufort. In Sidon, Lebanon's largest southern city, displaced residents sheltered in fear; Zeinab Fakih, from Nabatieh, told AFP that returning home was impossible "because the city is in great destruction."

The escalation deepened a toll that, by Lebanese figures, has reached 3,371 dead since early March. An Israeli strike near Hiram Hospital in Tyre wounded 13 hospital staff, the Lebanese health ministry said, while the Israeli army reported that a soldier had been killed a day earlier by a Hezbollah explosive drone -- the 25th Israeli military death since early March. Hezbollah continued to fire rockets and drones into northern Israel.

The offensive drew sharp international criticism and further undercut the nominal April 17 ceasefire. France's foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, told BFMTV that "nothing can justify the prolongation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon and its ever-deeper occupation," calling the expansion "contrary to Israel's interests and security" and a "major fault," and requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting. Even so, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was reported to be preparing to announce a new Israel-Lebanon ceasefire on Tuesday following political-track talks in Washington.