Israel’s attack on Lebanon could upset the Iran deal. What you need to know – National
Israeli forces have been moving deeper into Lebanon since withdrawing from the country 20 years ago, despite a US-brokered ceasefire and the first direct talks between the countries in decades.
Israel’s advance poses a challenge to the nascent agreement to extend the Iran war as Tehran seeks any deal to end hostilities in Lebanon. Qatar called it a “dangerous escalation.” Germany’s foreign minister said this is cause for great concern, according to the German news agency dpa. There is no comment for the United States.
On Sunday, the Israeli army seized a fortress in southern Lebanon that offers great views across Lebanon and northern Israel. The last time they held it, they held it for 18 years.
Israel says it is targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group, which has political power in southern Lebanon and has fired thousands of missiles and drones at Israeli troops there and in northern Israel.
Israel has warned residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate or risk being in the line of fire. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday accused Israel of “using a policy of destroying cities and towns.”
More than 3,300 people, including many children, have been killed in Lebanon since the war began on March 2, two days after the start of the Iran war. About 1 million people have been displaced. At least 25 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor were killed in Lebanon or northern Israel, as well as two civilians in northern Israel.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Fort has been a military asset for nearly 1,000 years
Israeli forces captured Beaufort, also called Al-Shaqif, which was built as a Crusader fortress around the 12th century and was later used by the Jerusalem army of Saladin, the Mamluks, the Ottomans, the French authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed last week to “increase the blows,” noted that Beaufort is “a symbol of the bravery of our fighters” but also “a symbol of the deep division between us.”
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The fort evokes a sense of victory over the capture of the Israeli army in 1982, but also reflects the high cost of protecting it before it was surrendered in 2000, said Orna Mizrahi, former deputy director at the government’s National Security Council.
The return of the troops feels like Israel is going in circles, said Mizrahi, who is now a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies. “There’s a sense of, ‘Why?’
Israel is likely to relinquish control eventually, he said, as Defense Minister Israel Katz vows to make Beaufort part of Israel’s safe zone in southern Lebanon.
The presence of the army will not solve the problem with Hezbollah, Mizrahi said: “Yes, we are hurting them operationally, but in parallel we need to pursue a political and rhetorical solution.”
Israel sees a threat to its northern communities
Israel has long viewed Hezbollah as a threat. The Shiite Muslim armed group emerged in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah targeted communities in northern Israel and joined the Gaza war in 2023 in collaboration with the Palestinians.
Israel severely weakened Hezbollah during the months of the war. The fighting ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in late 2024 after indirect talks, and Israeli forces withdrew except from five hilltops along the border.
Lebanon’s new government came to power with promises to disarm groups like Hezbollah, but the terrorists refused. Israel, on the other hand, said that Hezbollah was rearming and rebuilding.
On March 2, Hezbollah fired at Israel again, prompting Israel to attack southern Lebanon. Recently, Israel said it was trying to prevent Hezbollah from using a new type of fiber-optic drone against its forces and civilians. The drone was used extensively in the war in Ukraine.
Lebanon says Israel has gone too far
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled southern Lebanon as the Israeli military launched airstrikes and ground troops pushed into the country. Many people have now taken refuge in the capital, Beirut, where hundreds have been killed, including in bombings in April.
The United States announced a ceasefire that began in mid-April. Unlike the Iran war, it did not take hold.
Israeli forces now control large areas of southern Lebanon and have destroyed homes and historic sites. Israel is trying to “uproot the memory of Lebanon and erase the history of the people,” said Lebanon’s prime minister, Salam, on Saturday.
Hezbollah refused to accept the results of the talks
Talks between senior Israeli and Lebanese officials began in April in Washington, the first in more than three decades between the countries that do not have formal diplomatic ties.
On Friday, the first direct military talks in decades took place.
Issues to be resolved include the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the deployment of Lebanese troops there and the disarmament of Hezbollah, which has refused to hand over weapons while Israeli troops are still in the country.
Negotiations will continue this week. Hezbollah is not participating and has said it will not accept any consequences. The group prefers that negotiations benefit Iran and sees the Lebanese government as weak, a position shared by others in the country.
The people of Lebanon are divided over the talks, whose announcement has been met with protests. Many Lebanese are angry at Hezbollah for destroying the country but are also wary of Israel.
Lebanon’s prime minister called direct talks “for now the least expensive option,” adding that they do not mean surrender and acknowledging that they are not guaranteed to produce results.
___ Chehayeb reported from Beirut, and Anna reported from Lowville, New York.
