The Israeli Army announced this Sunday the occupation of Beaufort Castle, a strategic position in southern Lebanon and north of the Litani River, on which it has expanded its invasion in recent days, and attacks against “Hezbollah infrastructure” in the Lebanese coastal city of Tire and in “more additional areas” in the south of the country.
“The operation began several days ago, during which a significant number of IDF (Israel Defense Forces) ground troops began defensive operations to expand the Advanced Defense Line,” the Army statement states, to justify the invasion of more territory.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated this Sunday that the occupation of Beaufort Castle, taken last night by the Army, represents a “crucial milestone” and a “radical change in the policy” that Israel carries out in the neighboring country.
“We have overcome the barrier of fear,” added Netanyahu in a video message released by his office, where he reported that after the occupation of Beaufort he had given instructions to “consolidate and extend” Israeli control “over the places that were under the rule of Hezbollah”, without giving details of those sites.
Israel seized Beaufort Castle, near the city of Nabatieh, during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, and held it until 2000, when it withdrew from southern Lebanon.
“Twenty-six years after the withdrawal, our heroic soldiers have recaptured Beaufort and will remain there as part of the security zone in Lebanon,” declared Defense Minister Israel Katz at a ceremony in memory of Israeli soldiers who fell in the First Lebanon War of 1982 broadcast online.
