With the capture of Beaufort Castle by the Israeli army, the fear of a long-term Israeli occupation is becoming clearer for the Lebanese. The ceasefire announced by Israel and Beirut on Wednesday seems stillborn with the rejection of its terms by Hezbollah and the continuation of the military campaign of the Israeli army, which occupies the south of the country, claiming to want to neutralize Hezbollah.
Published on: 05/06/2026 - 1:35 p.m. Modified on: 05/06/2026 - 1:36 p.m.
Israel intensified its hostilities in southern Lebanon over the past weekend, marked by the capture of the strategic medieval Beaufort fortress by Israeli troops.
A new ceasefire was announced on Wednesday June 3, but it is conditional on the complete cessation of Hezbollah fire towards northern Israel and the evacuation of members of the Lebanese Shiite movement from the area south of the Litani River, which the Israeli army crossed as part of its offensive, when Israeli soldiers took Beaufort Castle.
Read alsoIn Lebanon, the Beaufort Fortress, a symbolic place of conflicts in the region
Through its leader, Hezbollah denounced negotiations with Israel on Thursday and refused any link between its presence on the ground and a ceasefire or Israeli withdrawal.
Israel, for its part, affirmed that it would not withdraw its troops from Lebanon. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli army would continue its operations on the ground - additional bombings were carried out during the day and night on Thursday - and assured that Israel had "the freedom to act, with the support of the United States, to strike" the capital Beirut.
Also read: Villages in southern Lebanon bombed by Israel: what about the ceasefire?
The drawing by the cartoonist Chappatte refers to the capture of the Beaufort fortress, a citadel dating from the time of the Crusades, which UNESCO placed under “reinforced protection” in April. Chappatte also refers to Gaza, whose territory is still in ruins since the war launched by Israel following the massacres of October 7. Nearly eight months after the announcement of a ceasefire, Israeli bombings have not stopped. They left 11 dead on Thursday in Gaza City and its surroundings.
Born in 1967 in Karachi, to a Swiss father and a Lebanese mother, Patrick Chappatte is a cartoonist and cartoonist-reporter. After starting out in the Swiss press, he moved to New York for a few years where he worked for the New York Times and Newsweek. He lives and works between Geneva and Los Angeles.
Every week he creates drawings on the front page of the Geneva daily Le Temps, draws for The International New York Times, Neue Zürcher Zeitung and also contributes to Yahoo! France. His drawings are featured in the international press.
Chappatte also produces reports in the form of comic strips, notably among the rebels of Ivory Coast, in Gaza and behind the scenes of the Elysée.
Cartooning for Peace is an international network of cartoonists committed to promoting, through the universality of press cartoons, freedom of expression, human rights and mutual respect between populations of different cultures or beliefs.
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