Israel troops capture Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon push against Hezbollah

JERUSALEM- Israeli troops have seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle and its strategic ridge in southern Lebanon, the military said on Sunday, a major advance against Iran-backed Hezbollah despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago.

It comes after Saturday, one of the heaviest days of Hezbollah fire toward northern Israel since the April ceasefire, prompting school closures and restrictions.

The operation, the military said, was focused on establishing control of the Beaufort Ridge and the Wadi al-Saluki area, while degrading the Hezbollah militia and its infrastructure on the ridge established under Iranian direction. One Israeli soldier was killed, the military said.

There were no immediate comments from Lebanon or from Hezbollah. The capture of the medieval castle and ridge deepen Israel's footprint in Lebanon as the Israel-Hezbollah military front remains active even as a parallel ceasefire holds in the wider Iran war.

Hezbollah entered the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran by firing rockets and drones into Israel on March 2, days after the Iran conflict began. Israel then began to attempt driving the Iran-backed militia away from its northern border.

The advance into Beaufort Castle has granted Israeli troops an overlook point over much of southern Lebanon and northern Israel, from which attacks have been launched towards Israeli residential areas.

Hezbollah "carried out numerous attacks," from the Ridge, the military said, adding that its troops were operating against launch infrastructure in the area, from which "hundreds of projectiles were launched toward Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers."

Israeli troops were also operating near Nabatieh, a major Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, the military said.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer, Maya Gebeily, Tala Ramadan and Nazih Osseiran; Editing by Bernadette Baum)