Israeli soldiers have captured a strategic hilltop crowned by the Crusader castle of Beaufort in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military announced on Sunday, part of the most sweeping Israeli invasion in the country in decades.

The seizure of Beaufort, while hailed by Israel’s top leaders, evoked bitter memories in both countries of the deadly fighting there during Israel’s nearly two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon. Israel finally withdrew in 2000 after a bloody insurgency led by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group.

Now, more than a quarter century later, Hezbollah is once again fighting a guerrilla war against invading Israeli forces; Israeli leaders openly discuss a return to a long-term Israeli “security belt” in Lebanon to fend off Hezbollah attacks; and an Israeli flag flutters over the fortress at Beaufort.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, praised the reconquest of Beaufort on Sunday as a “dramatic step” and vowed that Israeli forces would “deepen and expand” their control of territory in Lebanon.

But military experts said the fortified hilltop was unlikely to protect Israeli forces from Hezbollah’s cable-borne drones, which have led to mounting Israeli casualties. And simply occupying more territory in Lebanon was unlikely to subdue the militant group, they argued.

“The deeper in we go, the more troops we’ll need, the more vulnerable we’ll be, and the more casualties we’ll have” said Eyal Ben-Reuven, a retired Israeli general.

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