Israel Captures Beaufort Castle, Netanyahu Pushes Army Deeper
The IDF seized the Crusader-era Beaufort Castle above the Litani River on May 31, its deepest push into southern Lebanon in 26 years, as Paris seeks an urgent UN Security Council session.
- The IDF seized the Crusader-era Beaufort Castle above the Litani River on May 31, its deepest push into southern Lebanon in 26 years.
- The operation on the Beaufort ridge and in Wadi al-Saluki targets Hezbollah infrastructure, with the Golani Brigade raising the flag.
- Netanyahu says the army will push deeper into Lebanese territory.
- France has requested an urgent UN Security Council session.
The Israeli military announced that on Sunday, May 31, it captured the Crusader-era Beaufort Castle on the ridge above the Litani River, the deepest advance by Israeli forces into southern Lebanon in 26 years. For Belgrade, which has long watched how border disputes are filtered through the calculations of foreign chancelleries, the move carries a double weight: it shows how brittle the truce between Israel and Hezbollah has become, and it signals a fresh round at the Security Council, the body where Serbian foreign-policy interests are regularly weighed as well.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the capture as a turning point. Infantry units carried out the operation, and the Golani Brigade raised the Israeli flag over the castle walls. The site is symbolic: Beaufort changed hands in several wars over the past decades, and Israel had not held it for a full 26 years.
We returned to Beaufort stronger than ever. Our fighters captured the stronghold and raised the flag of the State of Israel.
The operation is unfolding on the Beaufort ridge and in the Wadi al-Saluki valley, aimed at dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure along the Litani River. Israel says it has eliminated more than 900 fighters of the group since the ceasefire began, and it is on that argument that it builds the case for pushing further into Lebanese territory. Netanyahu announced the army would go deeper, turning the whole undertaking from a limited action into a broader campaign.
Why does Beaufort Castle matter so much?
Beaufort is no ordinary ruin. The Crusader fortress on the ridge above the Litani has been a military hub for decades because it controls access to the valley and offers a commanding view over a wide stretch of the south. Whoever holds Beaufort keeps an eye on the terrain through which both people and weapons move.
Its strategic value explains why Israel frames the capture as a shift rather than a passing episode. Control of the ridge allows:
- surveillance of movement along the Litani River,
- pressure on Hezbollah logistics lines in the Wadi al-Saluki valley,
- a forward observation post deep inside Lebanese territory.
Netanyahu himself called the capture of Beaufort a dramatic shift, signaling that Israel does not treat the position as temporary but as a foothold for further operations.
How Paris reacted and what comes next
France, which views Lebanon through the lens of historical ties and its own role in the region, was the first to make a diplomatic move, requesting an urgent UN Security Council session. Paris is thereby shifting the issue from the battlefield to the multilateral track, where the conflict is measured not by captured ridges but by votes in the New York chamber.
For European chancelleries this revives a familiar dilemma: how to respond when one side reads the truce as license for a deeper push and the other as a breach of the deal. The Security Council session will show whether the advance stays an isolated military success or becomes the trigger for a wider Middle East crisis.
Will the push to Beaufort Castle mark the limit of Israel’s operation, or only its beginning?
