Beaufort Castle captured by Israel: Why is the Lebanon fortress important?

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Smoke rises near the Beaufort Castle, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, May 29, 2026. | Photo Credit: Stringer The Israel Defence Forces announced the capture of Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle or Qalaat al-Shaqif on June 1, 2026. In an official statement, the IDF confirmed the capture and said that the operation was carried out by Israel’s Golani Brigade along the castle’s ridge area to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure. Israel has been carrying out a ground invasion of Lebanon, with devastating air strikes, from early March. Fighting continued between Israel and Hezbollah despite a ceasefire announced by U.S. president Donald Trump on April 17. Beaufort Castle’s capture by Israel is significant as it sits atop a high mountain ridge and overlooks vast expanses of southern Lebanon and northern Israel, making it an important military asset. It overlooks the Litani River valley and is just outside the major city of Nabatiyeh. The IDF has stated that the operation to capture the Beaufort was to clear out the Hezbollah infrastructure and eliminate “direct threats to Israeli civilians.” Meanwhile, Hezbollah said their fighters were still actively battling Israeli troops near Beaufort Castle, describing the situation as a “battle of attrition.” President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, has condemned the capture and said that “Lebanon is facing a fierce and condemned Israeli aggression.” Members of Israeli troops at the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle in Nabatieh Governorate, southern Lebanon, in this screengrab from a handout video released on May 31, 2026. | Photo Credit: Israeli military Map showing Beaufort Castle in orange with the Lebanon-Israel border to the south. Beaufort Castle is geographically strategic as it sits just North of the international border with Israel and a very short distance from the Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, which is a major economic, political, and cultural hub. Several forces, including the Israeli military and Hezbollah, have used the fort to encircle the important centres of trade in the country and as a starting point for possible military excursions into northern Lebanon. The castle has a 1000-foot or 300m vertical drop owing to a steep mountain and is thus impenetrable from that side, a key factor for the powers(now Israel) controlling the fortress. The vertical cliff also gives an excellent vantage point for inter-border military strikes, launching of heavy artillery, and surveilling valleys. Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the West Asia war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for the US-Israeli killing of Iran’s supreme leader. Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Beaufort Castle captured by Israel: Why is the Lebanon fortress important?

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Beaufort Castle captured by Israel: Why is the Lebanon fortress important?

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