What is Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle, and why has Israel captured it?

Israel says the 900-year-old fortress is playing a key role in its military assault against Hezbollah.

The Israeli military has captured Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle, a medieval hilltop fortress in the country’s south, amid an expanded military offensive against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

The capture, announced on Sunday, comes amid fighting despite a “ceasefire” between Israel and Lebanon, which Israel has repeatedly violated.

“The Israeli flag is once again flying over the peaks overlooking the Galilee communities,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said at a memorial ceremony for fallen soldiers of the 1982 war with Lebanon, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

“Our heroic soldiers have captured Beaufort once again and will remain there as part of the security zone in Lebanon,” he was quoted as saying.

Katz circulated a photo on social media of the castle with the Israeli flag and also that of the military’s Golani Brigade.

So what is Beaufort Castle, how did Israel capture it and why does it matter?

Beaufort Castle, known in Arabic as Qalaat al-Shaqif, is a 900-year-old fortress located on a rocky hilltop in southern Lebanon, about 700 metres (2,300ft) above sea level. Built during the 12th century by Crusaders, the castle overlooks the Litani River.

The Crusaders named the castle Beaufort, which means “beautiful fortress” in Old French.

Over the centuries, the fortress has changed hands multiple times, passing from Crusader rulers to various regional powers, including the Ottoman Empire. Historically, its elevated position made it one of the most important defensive strongholds in the region, allowing whoever controlled it to monitor movement across a large area of southern Lebanon.

In more recent years, Palestinian fighters used the site as a base before Israel captured it during its 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Israeli forces then occupied the castle as part of their security zone in southern Lebanon until withdrawing from the area in 2000.

Sitting atop a strategic hill near Nabatieh, Lebanon’s fifth largest city, Beaufort Castle and the surrounding ridge, which Israeli forces have also secured, is regarded as one of southern Lebanon’s most strategically important military positions.

The capture of the castle offers Israeli troops an observation point over a large part of southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

Israeli officials said the operation was aimed at dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure and securing high ground close to the Israeli border.

Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon, said the captu