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The Israeli military has captured the strategic site of Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a "decisive shift" in its offensive against Hezbollah.

It comes as ground troops move ever deeper into Lebanese territory beyond their original demarcation line of the Litani river.

Meanwhile the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) increased the zone in southern Lebanon that it has warned residents to evacuate from.

Lebanon's prime minister has accused Israel of carrying out "collective punishment".

Perched over the Litani valley, Beaufort Castle has been key to controlling the region around it since the Crusaders built it some 900 years ago. The Israeli army captured it 44 years ago in what's known in Israel as the First Lebanon War.

In a statement on Sunday following its capture, Netanyahu said it was "a decisive stage and decisive shift in our policy".

"We have broken the barrier of fear. We are taking the initiative, we are operating on all fronts - in Syria, in Gaza, in Lebanon," he said.

Netanyahu added that his aim was to "deepen and expand our grip on the places that were under Hezbollah's control".