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UN to Meet on Lebanon After Israel Takes Beaufort Castle

Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
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UN to Meet on Lebanon After Israel Takes Beaufort Castle

Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting Monday on the fighting in Lebanon after Israel's military took over the medieval castle of Beaufort in Lebanese territory, diplomatic sources told AFP. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to push deeper into Lebanon and called Sunday's operation a "dramatic shift" in the campaign against Hezbollah. 

A truce to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began on April 17, but has never been observed. Both sides accuse each other daily of violating the ceasefire and justify their attacks by the other's alleged breaches. 

Diplomatic sources told AFP that the United Nations Security Council would hold an emergency meeting Monday over Israel's expansion of its offensive in the country. 

The meeting was requested by France, whose President Emmanuel Macron said "nothing justifies the major escalation under way in south Lebanon", calling for an end to fighting. 

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel in retaliation for the US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader. 

Israel hit Lebanon over the weekend, with eight people killed in a strike on Deir Zahrani in southern Lebanon on Sunday including three women, according to the Lebanese health ministry. 

The Iran-backed group, meanwhile, said it targeted Israeli forces near the fortress as well as army positions and infrastructure in Shlomi and Nahariya in northern Israel, while air raid sirens blared in the Acre area. 

A senior US official told AFP on Sunday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the ongoing diplomatic negotiations and asserted that Hezbollah must be the first to cease its attacks. 

"To advance those talks, the United States proposed a clear sequence: Hezbollah must stop all attacks on Israel. In return, Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, about the conversations between the three leaders. 

Military delegations from Lebanon and Israel held security talks in Washington on Friday and more US-brokered negotiations are planned next week. 

In a video statement released after the military took Beaufort, Netanyahu said "we have returned united, determined and stronger than ever". 

"Now my directive is to deepen and expand our hold in places that were under Hezbollah's control. The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading." 

Israeli forces used the Beaufort castle, also known as Qalaat al-Sheqif, as a base during their previous two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000. 

Shelling was audible and smoke rose from the surrounding area as AFP saw the Israeli flag above the castle. 

- 'Impossible to return home - 

In a shelter for the displaced in Sidon, southern Lebanon's largest city, Zeinab Fakih, from Nabatieh, told AFP "we are afraid". 

"It is impossible for us to return to our home, because the city is in great destruction," she said, adding that the arrival of Israeli forces at the castle was "tragic". 

The push to Beaufort came as the Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order to areas south of the Zahrani River, north of the Litani and around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border. 

An Israeli strike near a hospital in Tyre wounded 13 staffers, the Lebanese health ministry said. 

A few thousand people remain in Tyre's small old city, spared from Israeli evacuation warnings, some sleeping in their cars. 

In Sidon, an AFP photographer saw civil defense teams from the Tyre region reach the city after Israel's military called them to evacuate. 

Ali Safieddine, civil defense head in Tyre city, said they have "temporarily relocated to Sidon". 

The Israeli army said a Hezbollah explosive drone killed one of its soldiers Saturday, bringing to 25 the number of Israeli military deaths in Lebanon since early March. 

It added that "since the start of the ceasefire, 900 Hezbollah terrorists have been eliminated". 

Lebanon's health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,412 people since early March. 

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Arab World

Some South Lebanon Residents Trickle Back as Israel-Hezbollah Fighting Pauses

A man walks past a destroyed building targeted by Israeli air strikes on the historic old market in the town of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 21 June 2026, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (EPA)
A man walks past a destroyed building targeted by Israeli air strikes on the historic old market in the town of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 21 June 2026, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (EPA)
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Some South Lebanon Residents Trickle Back as Israel-Hezbollah Fighting Pauses

A man walks past a destroyed building targeted by Israeli air strikes on the historic old market in the town of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 21 June 2026, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (EPA)
A man walks past a destroyed building targeted by Israeli air strikes on the historic old market in the town of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 21 June 2026, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (EPA)

Some south Lebanon residents cautiously headed back to their hometowns on Sunday after fighting paused between Israel and Hezbollah the previous evening, even as Lebanon's army warned locals to delay returns.

In the southern city of Nabatieh, AFP correspondents saw just a few residents trickling back to inspect homes and businesses.

Mohammad Salloum said he had come back briefly to check on his shop but would return to the city of Sidon further north where he has taken refuge.

"Nabatieh is disaster-stricken," he told AFP while inspecting the damage.

But "God willing, the city will return to life within two or three months", he added.

Lebanon's army on Sunday emphasized "the need for residents to delay their return to southern border villages and towns" and to comply with army instructions "to preserve their safety from the danger of Israeli violations and attacks".

In the southern Tyre region, an AFP correspondent reported a cautious return of some residents, but said many were waiting for the outcome of further Middle East war talks on Sunday and the green light from local authorities.

Hezbollah's backer Iran, which is holding talks in Switzerland with the United States on Sunday, had warned it would not enter into negotiations on a broader agreement with Washington unless the war in Lebanon came to an end.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was announced on Friday, but Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes on the country's south and east on Saturday killed at least 30 people before fighting paused in the evening.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday said Israeli forces had standing orders to act against any threat inside Lebanon, insisting troops would remain in a so-called security zone inside Lebanese territory.

Israeli military operations have recently been focused on the Nabatieh region, and Lebanon's central bank on Saturday said an Israeli strike targeted its branch in the city.

Mayor Abbas Badreddine told AFP that "the scope of destruction in the city of Nabatieh in the past 48 hours amounts to about half of what happened" during the rest of the war.

Lebanon says Israeli attacks have killed more than 4,000 people since Hezbollah drew the country into the Middle East conflict on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel in support of Tehran.

Arab World

Israel PM Says Troops to Stay in South Lebanon ‘as Long as Necessary’

An Israeli military vehicle moves past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP)
An Israeli military vehicle moves past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP)
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Israel PM Says Troops to Stay in South Lebanon ‘as Long as Necessary’

An Israeli military vehicle moves past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP)
An Israeli military vehicle moves past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli forces would remain in occupied regions of southern Lebanon "as long as necessary", while also vowing to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. 

"We will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary to protect the cherished residents of the north and all the citizens of Israel... Nothing will alter that commitment," Netanyahu said. 

"And with regard to Iran: whatever political developments may unfold, I will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. As long as I serve as prime minister of Israel, that will not happen." 

Israel's military chief said on Sunday that Hezbollah had suffered a severe blow fighting Israeli forces and was now in a "very difficult position", as he met with troops in southern Lebanon. 

He spoke as the United States and Iran held talks in Switzerland after signing a preliminary agreement to end the broader Middle East war, with the conflict in Lebanon threatening to derail the deal. 

"Hezbollah has suffered a severe and significant blow, and we are committed to remaining prepared to continue operating and prevent its rebuilding," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said, according to a military statement. 

"Hezbollah is in a very difficult position," he added. 

Hezbollah had pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war in early March when the Iran-backed Lebanese group fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. 

Despite a new ceasefire announcement on Friday as part of the memorandum of understanding signed by Tehran and Washington, Israel and Hezbollah had continued to clash. 

However, there were no reports of fresh strikes in Lebanon since Saturday evening. 

Zamir vowed to defend the communities of northern Israel from Hezbollah rockets. 

"This is the purpose guiding all our efforts... The ceasefire that has been declared is fragile, and we must maintain a high level of readiness for the renewal of combat operations," Zamir said. 

- Qassem - 

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Sunday rejected any Israeli security zone in Lebanon. 

Israeli troops "remaining on Lebanese land is impossible. There are no security zones for Israel... we have a national army which deploys, and it is responsible for preserving sovereignty, and it is who we cooperate with," Qassem said in a televised address. 

"Israel is an aggressor and must leave. America bears full responsibility," he said, adding that "Israel will not remain in Lebanon, even if it increases its crimes, and we will defend ourselves." 

Qassem's address came as Washington and Tehran held talks in Switzerland after this week signing a preliminary agreement to end the broader Middle East war, which includes a halt to the hostilities in Lebanon. 

Ongoing Israeli strikes in recent days have threatened to derail the deal, but fighting in Lebanon has paused since Saturday evening, after Iran again closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel's attacks on Lebanon. 

"Any ceasefire under the banner of a comprehensive cessation of hostilities -- we have already committed to this if it happens, but we will not accept any violation. We will confront any violation... we will deal with it as we see fit," Qassem said. 

He urged Lebanese authorities to "take advantage of the path of the memorandum of understanding." 

"Look at the great Iran, closing the Strait of Hormuz for the sake of Lebanon. This is a weapon in your hands," he said, addressing the Lebanese authorities, adding, "Take up this weapon and use it." 

Under US pressure, Lebanon in April began direct talks with Israel in Washington aimed at ending the hostilities and separating the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Hezbollah has firmly rejected the direct talks, a fifth round of which is due to begin next week. 

Earlier on Sunday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces had standing orders to act against any threat inside Lebanon and insisted they would remain in the so-called security zone established within occupied Lebanese territory. 

"There has never been, and there is currently no restriction on Israeli soldiers in Lebanon from acting to eliminate threats... As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have made clear: Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon," Israel Katz said in a statement, referring to an area extending roughly 10 kilometers (six miles) into Lebanese territory that Israel is occupying. 

Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters engaged in fierce clashes this week, with Lebanese officials reporting dozens of people killed and the Israeli military reporting five of its own soldiers dead. 

Arab World

Iran Says Lebanon Conflict 'Main Topic' in US Talks

Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
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Iran Says Lebanon Conflict 'Main Topic' in US Talks

Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

Iran said on Sunday that the ongoing conflict in Lebanon between Israel and militant group Hezbollah will top the agenda in talks with the United States in Switzerland, as well as issues such as frozen Iranian funds and the sale of the country's oil.

"The Zionist regime continues to violate its commitment in Lebanon, this issue will be the main topic of discussion in today's talks," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a video shared by IRNA state news agency.

Tehran said on Thursday it had signed a deal with Washington to end months of hostilities that began on February 28 following US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Under the agreement, the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon was also due to stop, said AFP.

Iran's military announced on Saturday that it has closed the Strait of Hormuz again over ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

But there were no reports of fresh strikes in Lebanon after Saturday evening and Baqaei said since Saturday "a fragile cessation (in Lebanon) has been established".

He added that Tehran would also pursue the issue of its frozen and inaccessible funds during the talks.

"The issue of making available Iran's frozen or restricted assets, as well as the discussion related to issuing the necessary licenses for the sale of Iranian oil, will also be on the agenda," he said from Switzerland.

Iran has not officially disclosed the value of its frozen assets, though media reports have estimated them at more than $100 billion, largely frozen since the 1979 Iranian Revolution that toppled the US-backed shah.

According to Baqaei, the Iranian delegation will meet the US delegation in a "quadrilateral meeting" that will also include mediators Pakistan and Qatar.