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The Israeli military and Hizbollah are locked in fierce fighting around a strategically positioned 12th century crusader castle in one of Israel’s northernmost advances into Lebanon since launching its ground invasion in September.
Hizbollah militants and Israeli troops have clashed repeatedly in recent days in Chamaa, a hill village some 5km from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. The village is famed for the ruins of a crusader citadel and an important religious shrine.
UN peacekeeping force Unifil said that four Italian peacekeepers were admitted to hospital on Friday after two rockets — which Unifil said were “likely launched” by Hizbollah or affiliates — hit its base in Chamaa for the third time this week. The attack came “amid heavy shelling and ground skirmishes” in the area, Unifil said.
The fighting marks some of the deepest known advances of Israeli forces into Lebanon since they launched their ground invasion, in what had been described by Israeli officials as “limited, localised, targeted raids”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted to parliament this week that there had been a “certain expansion” of the ground campaign, hinting that troops are now ranging beyond the so-called “first belt” of Lebanese villages closer to the border.
The stated goal of the offensive had been to “clear” the area of Hizbollah bunkers, weapons caches, and fighters that Israel says posed a risk to its northern communities. Hizbollah began firing rockets from Lebanon into Israel after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack from Gaza.
The Israeli military has declined to comment on the combat in Chamaa and refuses to divulge the exact locations of Israel Defense Forces advances into southern Lebanon. For its part, Hizbollah said it has targeted Israeli Merkava tanks and soldiers in the area multiple times.
Israeli media reported on Wednesday that an Israeli civilian and one IDF soldier were killed at Chamaa’s citadel after being ambushed by Hizbollah militants. Two other Israeli officers were injured in the incident.
The civilian, Ze’ev Hanoch Erlich, was a 71-year-old amateur archeologist who lives in the occupied West Bank. His death garnered widespread media attention in Israel and prompted the IDF to launch an investigation into how and why he was able to access the frontline of an active war zone.
Initial explanations proffered by the IDF were that the infantry unit required his archeological expertise at the ancient site. Other media reports speculated that Erlich was searching for biblical Jewish relics or remains.
The Chamaa citadel was placed under “enhanced protection” by the UN’s cultural agency Unesco this week, along with 33 other places in Lebanon.
Israeli soldiers previously used the castle during its two decade occupation of south Lebanon that ended in 2000.
Satellite imagery analysed by the Financial Times appears to show recent damage to buildings in Chamaa, though it is not clear if Israeli troops are holding territory in the area. But Lebanese media have reported Israeli advances towards al-Bayada, which is 7km from the border.
Chamaa holds religious significance for Christians and Shia Muslims thanks to a shrine of Saint Peter, also known as Shimon al-Safa. There are fears that the shrine has been damaged, with some Lebanese media reporting its destruction.
Hizbollah has reported clashes in other villages and towns more than 3km from the border, including Tallouseh and Khiyaam in the east.
The powerful Iran-backed militant group has continued fighting in the south despite its top leadership being decimated by targeted Israeli assassinations, and is still firing rockets into northern Israel — albeit at a far lower volume.
Hizbollah’s new secretary-general Naim Qassem in a televised speech this week played down Israeli advances, stressing that the militants were using insurgent tactics.
“The resistance does not work to prevent the [enemy] army from advancing,” he said, adding: “The resistance works to kill the enemy and prevent the stability of its occupation.”
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