In 1980, Ziad Saab helped defend Chqif Castle against Israel as a Lebanese Communist Party commander. In 2026, he watched Hezbollah lose the same site — and reflects on what changed.
In South Lebanon, just a few kilometers away from the Israeli border, lies a crusader castle named “Beaufort” (Shqif Castle). It is one of the few 12th-century military structures that has been used for military purposes in modern times. After 26 years of being in Lebanese possession, the Israeli army (IDF) took over the castle, chasing away Hezbollah forces, and raising the Israeli flag on top of the old site as a sign of triumph – and humiliation for the Hezbollah fighters. Christina Foerch Saab recounts her husband’s experience as an ex-combatant in this significant location during the times of the Lebanese civil war.
The recent capture of Beaufort Castle by the Israeli army sent shockwaves across Lebanon. On the one hand, it was highly symbolic, marking a grave defeat for the Hezbollah fighters, who were unable to defend the site, and for Lebanese citizens, as it reminded them of the 18-year Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. From a military perspective, Beaufort Castle is also highly relevant because of its strategic location overlooking the Nabatiyeh district, town, and border area.
Editor's note: The opinions below are the interviewee's own.
When the Left Held the Line at Chqif
My husband, Ziad Saab, was watching the battle for the Crusader Castle on TV. He knows the site and the surrounding area very well. In 1980, he fought the Israeli army there himself as commander of the Lebanese Communist Party's military wing. Based in Nabatieh, he led military operations in the region, overseeing the different forces stationed there from his own party, as well as Palestinian combatants from Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
When I asked him why the Israeli army had captured the ancient site again, after occupying it between 1982 and 2000, I wondered if they were sending a message of humiliation to Hezbollah or if it was for strategic purposes. As a former commander, he pointed out the strategic importance of the location: “Chqif is located north of the Litani River, not far from the Israeli border. It's easier to fire rockets from there at northern Israeli settlements – the distance is short enough for the rockets to reach,” he said. By occupying this strategic site, the Israeli army would prevent Hezbollah from firing rockets into the border areas.
Next to Beaufort Castle is another strategic site: Ali Taher Hill in Nabatieh, South Lebanon. It is almost as high as Beaufort. It is said that there are current underground tunnels where around 30 to 40 Hezbollah fighters are still hiding. The Israeli army has reportedly surrounded the Ali Taher hill and blocked all entrances.
'The Ali Taher hill is of equal strategic significance to Beaufort Castle,' Ziad continued. 'It seems that Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have an operational base there.'
The Two-Day Battle That Trapped the Israeli Army
When Ziad was commanding the Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups in the Nabatieh area in 1980 as the leader of the operations room, it was the other way around. After they knew that the Israeli army wanted to occupy the area, they had a plan: “We distributed groups of fighters in different points, so that we were ready to engage in any battle against the Israeli army.” Some of these points included the Beaufort Castle, where militants were stationed. Other groups, such as the elite Student Battalion belonging to Fatah, were present on the Ali Taher hill, while other groups oversaw other points in the area. When the Israeli army advanced, these groups were able to surround them.
On 18 August 1980, Ziad was commanding Lebanese Communist, PFLP and Fatah fighters in Beaufort, from his position at the nearby Hamra farm. “The Israelis launched a land assault after dropping paratroopers from their helicopters,” he recalled. It was the Golani Brigades – the same forces that had previously conquered Beaufort. 'It was a very heavy battle that lasted from 18 to 19 August,' he said. 'The Israelis wanted to retreat, but our fighters had surrounded them. They didn’t manage to retreat because of our fierce resistance.” He explained that, for the first time in Israeli military history, the decision was taken to open fire on their own forces and the Lebanese and Palestinian militants simultaneously with artillery fire, allowing the Israeli soldiers to retreat.
A Friend Lost, a Castle Held
The second day, on 19 August 1980, the Israeli army managed to pull out and Ziad was finally able to reach the site of the Beaufort castle. But the danger wasn’t over yet because the Israeli air force started bombing the site heavily, even while Ziad and his combatants tried retrieving the dead bodies of their comrades. Ziad lost 10 combatants in this battle, many of them his friends, while several Israeli soldiers had been killed in the fighting as well. But they had successfully fenced off the enemy. The Israeli army was not able to capture the Chqif Castle at that point. “The battle was over, and then the journalists arrived to interview me,” he recalls. He was only 22 years old back then. During our interview, he pointed out that “I don’t like showing off… it is true that I was the commander, but many others also had the power of decision-making on the ground,” emphasizing that such battles are always a collective undertaking. In Ziad’s memory, “this battle was one of the most important events in the resistance against Israel in those days.”
But it came with a heavy price. He remembers that when preparing for the battle, he saw one of his comrades in the Souks of Nabatieh: “I shouted at him, asking what he was doing in the marketplace, while he was supposed to be in his position in the Beaufort Castle.” His friend begged him to give him a few more minutes, and then he would go back. “This comrade died in the battle. I don’t forget that. It is not easy to acknowledge that I sent him back there and then he was killed.” He emphasized that the relationship between the fighters was not one of a commander-soldier nature, especially from his side: “My job was to command, but I didn’t ask them to do anything I would not do myself. And I would not send them anywhere just to die. For me, they were my friends.”
Is It Ever Really Resistance?
So why then, this time, did Hezbollah lose Beaufort? “Hezbollah made people believe that they could reach Al Quds (Jerusalem),” he said. “But there is no equilibrium in military power anymore, especially after all the technological developments that the Israeli army has. The military leaders must look at their own power and their allies, and at the power of the enemy and their respective allies. If there is a big difference and they decide for the battle anyway, it is just a suicide mission, and this is what happened.”
He also pointed out that he no longer believes that Hezbollah is a resistance group. “They said themselves that they are following an Iranian agenda; it’s not me who is saying that. It’s (late) Hassan Nasrallah who said that.” Meaning that fierce fighters need a strong cause to believe in, which Ziad feels is lacking with Hezbollah nowadays. “Tell me, why did they fight in Syria, Yemen or Iraq? Is this resistance? I don’t think so.” But Hezbollah continues to claim that they are the only true resistance force against Israel, and they do not like stories like the one about Ziad and other militant groups having fought against Israel before Hezbollah even existed.
I wondered what my husband felt when watching the current war on TV – apparently giving him constant flashbacks about similar situations he had experienced before as a combatant. “I feel that we didn’t learn as a society. We still largely believe that by using force, we can reach our goal,” he mused. “I am convinced that there are other options than force. If our Arab leaders invested in real democracy, culture and economic growth, we could surpass Israel, which falsely claims that it is ‘the only democracy’ in the Middle East.”
And nowadays, Ziad does just that: fighting peacefully for a more democratic and just society in Lebanon. It remains an uphill battle, but maybe, just maybe, one day it will pay off.