UN Security Council Likely to Meet as Israel Captures Lebanon Castle in Deepest Incursion in 26 Years |
Listen to this article:
New Delhi: Israeli troops have captured a strategic mountain topped with a Crusader-built castle in southern Lebanon in the deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter-century.
The capture of Beaufort castle, near the city of Nabatiyeh marked a major Israeli advance in its latest offensive against what it claims is the armed group Hezbollah but which has killed upwards of 3,350 people in Lebanon and and displaced more than 1 million people.
Israel’s Lebanon offensive began almost concurrently as it attacked Iran, along with the US, on February 28.
On March 2, Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel. Since then, Israel has launched a ground invasion, forcibly capturing dozens of Lebanese villages and towns close to the border, leading to numerous deaths. Hezbollah has reportedly aimed missiles and drones at Israel in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
The Israeli attacks came despite a nominal ceasefire that has been in place since April 17 and just days before Lebanon and Israeli hold their next round of direct talks in Washington starting June 2.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to propose a fresh path to continue ongoing negotiations, according to a US official who spoke to the Associated Press on........