Israel Kills Hezbollah Military Chief in Beirut Strike
Israel’s killing of Haytham Tabatabai marks its most significant enforcement action since the 2024 truce.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Israel on Sunday killed Hezbollah’s military chief Haytham Ali Tabatabai in a precision strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, marking the most significant blow to the group’s leadership since the November 2024 ceasefire that paused more than a year of cross-border hostilities.
Lebanese authorities said the attack hit an apartment building in the Haret Hreik district, killing five people and wounding 28. The strike targeted the third and fourth floors of a nine-storey building, where emergency crews later searched for survivors amid burned-out cars and shattered debris.
Hezbollah later confirmed that senior leader Haytham Ali Tabtabai was killed in Israel's strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday.
In a statement, the group confirmed the killing of "the great commander" Tabtabai in "a treacherous Israeli attack on the Haret Hreik area in the southern suburbs of Beirut", without specifying his position within the group.
Israel said Tabatabai—its stated primary target—served as Hezbollah’s chief of general staff and was instrumental in rebuilding the group’s military capabilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation demonstrated that Israel “will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its power,” urging the Lebanese government to fulfill its responsibility to disarm the Iran-backed faction.
The strike was Israel’s fifth on Beirut’s southern suburbs since the November 2024 ceasefire and comes just a week before the scheduled visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon.
Despite the escalation, the Israeli military insisted it “remains committed” to the ceasefire, framing the operation as essential to preventing Hezbollah’s rearmament in violation of the truce terms.
Witnesses described a sudden flash, a shockwave, and the collapse of glass across nearby buildings. Lebanon’s National News Agency said three missiles were fired at the target site.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would continue its “policy of maximum enforcement,” saying anyone who threatens Israel “will have his hand cut off.”
Hezbollah denounced the attack as “treacherous,” mourning Tabatabai as a “great commander.” Born in 1968, he was known within the organization but largely unknown to the Lebanese public.
Before becoming military chief, he managed the group’s activities in Yemen and commanded special forces units in Syria. The U.S. Treasury had issued a $5 million reward for information on his whereabouts.
Hezbollah’s military structure has been under severe strain since it entered the conflict in support of Hamas in October 2023, triggering months of intense exchanges with Israel.
The group’s losses—combined with mounting domestic economic strains—have left it more vulnerable to targeted Israeli operations.
The latest strike drew condemnation from Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who urged the international community to intervene to halt what he called repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory.
Israel says its operations are necessary to enforce the ceasefire and prevent a resurgence of Hezbollah’s military power.
As Beirut braces for heightened tensions ahead of the Pope’s visit, Sunday’s strike is widely seen as a decisive Israeli effort to enforce the ceasefire’s terms, reinforce deterrence, and prevent Hezbollah from dragging the region back into a broader and more dangerous conflict.
