‘A shock to all Lebanese’: Israel sends a message as it takes ancient fort

An Israeli flag and a flag of the Golani Brigade fly on Beaufort Castle. Photograph: Reuters View image in fullscreen An Israeli flag and a flag of the Golani Brigade fly on Beaufort Castle. Photograph: Reuters ‘A shock to all Lebanese’: Israel sends a message as it takes ancient fort Conquering of Beaufort Castle for first time in 26 years bring back memories of occupation of south Middle East crisis – live updates W hen Hussain Alawieh used to take tourists to Beaufort Castle, they would marvel at the view. The ancient hilltop fort, captured nearly 1,000 years earlier by Crusaders, still offered the same sweeping panoramic views of south Lebanon and the Litani River that empires fought over for a millennia. On Sunday, the view from the castle was obscured by white phosphorus smoke, the toxic incendiary munition providing a smoke-screen for advancing Israeli soldiers. Out of the fog rose an Israeli flag, and the castle, for the first time in 26 years, was once again conquered . In the age of drones and surveillance blimps, the value of the ancient hilltop fort is diminished. But to both Israelis and Lebanese, its capture carried psychological weight in a conflict that for six weeks had ground to a deadlock. “The raising of the Israeli flag and the flag of the Golani Brigade above the castle caused a shock to me and to all southerners and Lebanese people,” said Alawieh, a tour guide based in south Lebanon. The castle, Alawieh explained, was a symbol of steadfastness and of resistance in south Lebanon. Its thick stone walls helped its survive Israeli aerial bombing in the 1980s when it was used as a base by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, and again, when Israel carried out a detonation in the castle upon its withdrawal in 2000. “Raising the Israeli flag above it is intended to send a message of psychological domination and defeat to the population, conveying that the ‘sites you considered impregnable have fallen,’” said Alawieh. The capture of the castle came as Israel’s invasion of south Lebanon lurched forward once again. The pace of the war in Lebanon had slowed since a supposed ceasefire on 17 April. With much of south Lebanon declared a no man’s land by Israel, it was impossible to tell what was happening on the battlefield. Last week, what was a low-intensity war suddenly accelerated, with Israeli warplanes killing at least a dozen people a day, and Israeli soldiers once again marching forward. The Beaufort Castle was the most tangible marker of Israel’s progress, both to Israelis and Lebanese. Netanyahu, facing pressure from his domestic political rivals, happily announced that Israel was deepening its invasion in Lebanon. To the Lebanese, the sight of the Israeli flag over the castle brought back memories of its 18-year occupation of south Lebanon starting in 1982. “Of course, it brought me back to the occupation. We went back to 1986, 1987, and 2000. It brought back memories of those painful days,” said Fouad Fatimi, the mayor of