AdvertisementSmoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo)01 Jun 2026 03:17AM (Updated: 01 Jun 2026 03:28AM) Bookmark Bookmark WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedInAdd CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results.Read a summary of this article on FAST.Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try.Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FASTFAST JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in the battle against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, he said on Sunday (May 31), despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago.The fighting in Lebanon has been the broadest spillover of the Iran war, displacing more than 1.2 million Lebanese through Israeli strikes and evacuation orders since Mar 2, when Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones into Israel to back its ally Iran.The incursion has so far killed more than 3,370 people, according to the Lebanese government. Israel says 24 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed over the same period. Tens of thousands of Israelis in the country's north have also been displaced by Hezbollah rockets and drones.In the latest advance, Israeli troops seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle and a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon, the military said, a day after one of the heaviest days of Hezbollah fire toward northern Israel since the April ceasefire, prompting school closures and restrictions."I instructed the (military) to expand its ground manoeuvre in Lebanon," Netanyahu said in a statement.Citing the escalating violence in Lebanon, France called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday, its foreign ministry said in a statement. Iran says does not trust US as Trump toughens termsLebanon PM denounces Israeli campaign as fresh strikes hit southISRAEL AIMS TO EXPAND GRIP ON HEZBOLLAH AREAS Israeli troops and Hezbollah have continued to trade fire since the mid-April ceasefire, with Hezbollah resorting to the use of cheap, easy-to-assemble kamikaze drones that are hard for air defences to thwart and that have killed several Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.The Israeli military already controlled territory up to the Litani River in Lebanon, but troops are pushing to the Zaharani River, around 10 km north.Netanyahu said his aim is to "deepen and expand our grip on the places that were under Hezbollah's control".Naftali Bennett, a challenger to Netanyahu in an upcoming election, said he seeks stronger action in Lebanon, including hitting suburbs of Beirut.The military on Sunday issued an evacuation warning for residents south of the Zaharani. Eight people were killed when overnight airstrikes Saturday hit the southern village of Deir El Zahrani, Lebanon's state news agency said.Throughout Sunday, the Israeli military conducted more than 40 strikes across southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese security sources and state news.A paramedic volunteer carries a body, one of the six the family members who were killed on Wednesday when their car was struck in an Israeli airstrike on a highway as they fled their village, during a funeral procession in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)BEAUFORT CASTLE GIVES VANTAGE POINT On Friday, the US military had hosted Israeli and Lebanese defence representatives in Washington to pursue a US-brokered plan to forge peace between the two countries and disarm Iranian-backed Hezbollah. On May 15, the two sides agreed to extend the ceasefire by 45 days.The advance into Beaufort Castle has granted Israeli troops a vantage point over much of southern Lebanon and northern Israel, from which attacks have been launched towardsIsraeli residential areas.It was the first time Israel had held the site since May 2000, when Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon after 18 years.Defence Minister Israel Katz said soldiers will retain Beaufort as part of Israel's security zone in southern Lebanon."The campaign is not over yet," he said. "We are all determined to crush Hezbollah's power."Commentary: Trump can’t sell the Abraham Accords to a Middle East that has lost trust in the USKatz circulated a photo on social media of the castle with the Israeli flag and also that of the military's Golani brigade.The latest operation, the military said, was focused on establishing control of the Beaufort Ridge and the Wadi al-Saluki area, while degrading the capabilities of Hezbollah’s militants and its infrastructure on the ridge established under Iranian direction. One Israeli soldier was killed, the military said.An Israeli flag is raised on Beaufort Castle, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, May 31, 2026. REUTERS/StringerThere were no immediate comments from Lebanon or from Hezbollah.Talal Atrissi, a sociology professor at the Lebanese University and an analyst who is close to Hezbollah, said the photo of the Israeli flag over the castle was intended as a message to Israeli society that the military was managing to achieve goals in Lebanon despite the challenges posed by Hezbollah's use of drones.Israeli troops were also operating near Nabatieh, a major Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, the military said.Source: AFP/fsSign up for our newslettersGet our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inboxSubscribe hereGet the CNA appStay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best storiesDownload hereGet WhatsApp alertsJoin our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat appJoin hereAlso worth readingContent is loading...