NABATIEH: Several citizens were killed and many others injured early Sunday morning after Israeli warplanes launched intense dawn airstrikes targeting residential buildings in the southern Lebanese town of Deir ez-Zahrani.

According to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) and Al Jazeera, the strikes hit an Arab neighborhood while families were asleep inside.

Emergency teams are actively working at the scene to recover bodies, though a number of victims remain trapped beneath the concrete rubble.

Directly south of the bombardment, Israeli ground forces captured the strategic, Crusader-built Beaufort Castle (Qalaat al-Shaqif).

The capture of the fortress, located on a high ridge 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the border, marks Israel’s deepest territorial incursion into Lebanon since the current war began on March 2, 2026. Israel’s Kan broadcaster aired images of the Israeli flag flying over the historic structure, which Israel previously occupied from 1982 until 2000.

Lebanese authorities have not yet commented on the fortress’s fall.