Lebanon crusader castle seized by Israel a symbol of bloody history
The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, of which Israel is not a member, calls it one of the best-preserved medieval castles in the Middle East and this year added it to a special list for enhanced protection in the conflict. PHOTO | REUTERS
Jerusalem. The medieval Beaufort Castle's stone ramparts tower so far above south Lebanon that Israel could hail their capture as a strategic victory, even as it evoked the miseries of a previous occupation.
When Israeli forces entered the 900-year-old castle on Saturday, they were returning to a fortress they held throughout their 1982-2000 presence in southern Lebanon, a campaign that years of Hezbollah attacks ultimately drove them to end.
