Middle East crisis live: Netanyahu says capture of strategic castle is ‘dramatic shift’ in Israel’s Lebanon offensive
NEWS | 31 May 2026
From 2h ago 07.03 EDT Netanyahu says capturing Beaufort a 'dramatic shift' in Lebanon offensive Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israeli forces’ capture of Beaufort castle in southern Lebanon marked a “dramatic shift” in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. “Today, we have returned to Beaufort in a different way. We have returned united, determined, and stronger than ever,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, AFP reports. “The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading. We have broken the barrier of fear. We are taking the initiative, we are operating on all fronts – in Syria, in Gaza, in Lebanon.” Share 3m ago 08.56 EDT A former IDF commander of Beautfort Ridge, the 900-year-old castle and strategic ridge taken by Israeli forces in Lebanon, has warned Israelis against romanticising its capture. In an interview in Hebrew with the Israeli news website Walla, Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Avman said: “The conquest of the ridge is tactical excellence that covers up strategic helplessness. From the point of view of the United States, Iran and Lebanon are tied to each other by an ancestral bond.” Avman was a commander of Beaufort Bridge when Israeli forces used the fortress as a base during its previous occupation of Lebanon between 1982 and 2000. He criticised the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli government’s handling of the war in Lebanon, suggesting there was no strategic purpose in capturing the fortress and putting an Israeli military flag on the castle. “What happens tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? What happens when the soldiers remain there for another week or two? Where are the convoys bringing logistics? How do you provide them with water and ammunition? How do you protect them against IEDs and explosive drones? And that is why the romance of the images from Beaufort will turn, within days, into strategic stagnation,” he said. Share Updated at 08.58 EDT 29m ago 08.30 EDT In his weekly address from the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, Pope Leo has urged world leaders to sincerely pursue a “fair and lasting peace”. Leo wished for the “divine Wisdom to enlighten the conscience of those in authority and guide their decisions toward the sincere pursuit of a fair and lasting peace”, adding that in the past month the whole church prayed for peace. “Dear brothers and sisters, throughout this month of May, a unanimous invocation for peace has risen from the entire Church, especially through the prayer of the Holy Rosary. Like an unbroken chain, it has entrusted the peoples tortured by war to the intercession of the Virgin Mary,” he said. View image in fullscreen Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus noon prayer in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 31, 2026. Photograph: Gregorio Borgia/AP Share Updated at 08.31 EDT 41m ago 08.18 EDT View image in fullscreen Iran’s South Pars gasfield, which it shares with Qatar, in 2019. Photograph: Vahid Salemi/AP Iran has restored gas production at three offshore platforms in the South Pars gas field that had been forced to halt output after Israeli attacks disrupted processing capacity at some onshore facilities, the chief executive of the Pars Oil and Gas Company told state media on Sunday. Touraj Dehqani said the platforms had not been damaged. He said production from the three platforms was being routed to other processing plants in the region while repairs continue at damaged facilities, including the Phase 14 refinery. Read my colleague Jillian Ambrose’s report on the Israeli strikes, which took place on 18 March. Share 49m ago 08.10 EDT Scenes from the conflict in Lebanon today: View image in fullscreen Israeli soldier looks through the sight of his rifle, at his position near the border with Lebanon, in northern Israel Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters View image in fullscreen Israeli tank operates in southern Lebanon, as seen from Metula Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters View image in fullscreen The Israeli flag flies along with the flag of Golani Brigade over of the Crusader-era Beaufort (Belfort) Castle, known locally as Qalaat al-Chakif in the southern Lebanese village of Arnoun. The strategic hilltop fortress, which commands sweeping views of the region, was secured following intense fighting and airstrikes as Israel expanded its ground operations across the Litani river. Photograph: Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Smoke billows of Israeli air strikes on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tebniet. Photograph: Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Share 1h ago 07.55 EDT An Israeli strike near a hospital in Tyre, south Lebanon wounded 13 staffers, the Lebanese health ministry said, AFP reports. “The Israeli enemy launched an airstrike in the vicinity of Hiram Hospital in Tyre, injuring 13 hospital staff members and causing significant damage,” the ministry said in a statement, urging “the international community to put an end to the escalating and expanding Israeli attacks”. Israel has stepped up its offensive in Lebanon this weekend, with evacuation orders in place for large parts of the south of the country. Share 1h ago 07.37 EDT Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said troops will remain in Beaufort as part of Israel’s security zone in Lebanon, Reuters reports, without providing further detail. In an earlier post on X, Katz said: “At the direction of prime minister Netanyahu and at my direction, the IDF expanded the manoeuvre in Lebanon, crossed the Litani River, and captured the Beaufort ridge – one of the most important strategic points for defending the settlements of the Galilee and safeguarding the security of our forces. “Today, the veil of secrecy imposed on the operation to prevent information from reaching the enemy has been lifted. This is a clear message to our enemies: whoever threatens Israeli citizens will lose their strategic assets one after another. I salute the Golani fighters and all IDF fighters who wrote another chapter of Israeli heroism in the place where our heroes fell for the homeland.” Share 2h ago 07.23 EDT Lorenzo Tondo Reached by the Guardian after Israeli troops captured the 900-year-old Beaufort castle and its strategic ridge in southern Lebanon – their deepest incursion into the country in more than 26 years- Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center said: “Israel is aiming at capturing strategic points by controlling the same positions which the IDF used to exert control over the occupied territories prior to its 2000 withdrawal.” “Taking over Nabatiyeh will constitute a blow to the morale of Hezbollah and its support base.’’ About the fears among Lebanese of a virtual annexation, Ali said: “Given the level of destruction in the so called yellow zone, the range of possibilities is between denying the return of the population, and annexation/settlement in a similar fashion to the West Bank. Annexation is no longer a wild conspiracy theory, there are ministerial statements to this effect from Israel’s finance and national security ministers, among others.” Share 2h ago 07.03 EDT Netanyahu says capturing Beaufort a 'dramatic shift' in Lebanon offensive Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israeli forces’ capture of Beaufort castle in southern Lebanon marked a “dramatic shift” in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. “Today, we have returned to Beaufort in a different way. We have returned united, determined, and stronger than ever,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, AFP reports. “The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading. We have broken the barrier of fear. We are taking the initiative, we are operating on all fronts – in Syria, in Gaza, in Lebanon.” Share 2h ago 06.51 EDT France requests UN security council meeting on Lebanon France has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations security council after Israeli forces seized the medieval Beaufort castle in Lebanon, the French foreign minister said Sunday, AFP reports. “I have requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council because, while we recognise Israel’s right, like that of all countries, to self-defence... nothing can justify the continuation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon and its ever-deeper occupation of Lebanese territory,” Jean-Noel Barrot said on the BFMTV channel. Share
Author: Hayden Vernon. Donna Ferguson.
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