Beaufort's ridge makes it a military prize

Beaufort Castle overlooks southern Lebanon, northern Israel and the Litani River valley, making it strategically valuable. The 12th-century Crusader fortress was captured by Saladin, later held by multiple empires, used by the PLO in the 1970s and captured by Israel in 1982 before its 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon. during earlier wars and occupations there.