Whilst the Iranian front of the US-Israeli war of choice has remained frustratingly frozen since the ceasefire, hostilities in Lebanon have continued apace with ground fighting and forced evacuations. The IDF announces it has captured the symbolic if not strategically important Beauford castle, a fortress built during the Crusades with a commanding view of the Litani river, retaking the promontory held during the eighteen year occupation that ended in 2000. Fighting and territorial encroachment also continues in Gaza and Syria, with Israel posed to seize the historic city of Nabatieh next as clashes with Hezbollah intensify in the Beirut suburbs.