Hezbollah's top military commander, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, was killed in an Israeli air strike on Beirut's Haret Hreik area on Sunday. The strike, which targeted an apartment block in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh in southern Beirut, also wounded 28 people.
Tabatabai, who served as the chief of staff of the group's armed wing, is considered one of the most senior Hezbollah commanders to be killed by Israel since a November ceasefire was put in place. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the strike, saying it "eliminated" Tabatabai, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that Tabatabai was the target.
Hezbollah has described the attack as "a treacherous Israeli attack", without specifying Tabatabai's position within the group. The group's leadership is considering a response to the strike, with senior official Mahmoud Qmati warning of an escalation of assaults across Lebanon if Israel continues its aggression.
The attack comes just days before Pope Leo XIV's scheduled visit to the country amid heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has called on the international community to intervene to stop the attacks, saying that every strike is a "red line".
Israel has been carrying out near-daily strikes on southern Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement was brokered by the US about a year ago. The group claims that these strikes are part of an effort to pressure Lebanon into disarming Hezbollah.
The attack also highlights the ongoing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, with both sides accusing each other of aggression. Ali Rizk, a security affairs analyst, warned that a response from Hezbollah could lead to a bigger Israeli bombardment, which could harm its support base.
Tabatabai's death marks a significant blow to Hezbollah, which has been struggling to maintain its deterrence capabilities in the face of ongoing Israeli aggression. The group's ability to respond to the strike is uncertain, and it remains to be seen how Lebanon will navigate this challenging situation.
Tabatabai, who served as the chief of staff of the group's armed wing, is considered one of the most senior Hezbollah commanders to be killed by Israel since a November ceasefire was put in place. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the strike, saying it "eliminated" Tabatabai, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that Tabatabai was the target.
Hezbollah has described the attack as "a treacherous Israeli attack", without specifying Tabatabai's position within the group. The group's leadership is considering a response to the strike, with senior official Mahmoud Qmati warning of an escalation of assaults across Lebanon if Israel continues its aggression.
The attack comes just days before Pope Leo XIV's scheduled visit to the country amid heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has called on the international community to intervene to stop the attacks, saying that every strike is a "red line".
Israel has been carrying out near-daily strikes on southern Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement was brokered by the US about a year ago. The group claims that these strikes are part of an effort to pressure Lebanon into disarming Hezbollah.
The attack also highlights the ongoing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, with both sides accusing each other of aggression. Ali Rizk, a security affairs analyst, warned that a response from Hezbollah could lead to a bigger Israeli bombardment, which could harm its support base.
Tabatabai's death marks a significant blow to Hezbollah, which has been struggling to maintain its deterrence capabilities in the face of ongoing Israeli aggression. The group's ability to respond to the strike is uncertain, and it remains to be seen how Lebanon will navigate this challenging situation.
. Hezbollah is just trying to defend itself against Israeli aggression, but instead of de-escalating the situation, Israel keeps escalating it 
. It's like they're waiting for someone to push them over the edge so they can justify another attack. The international community needs to step in and put some pressure on Israel to stop these strikes before things get out of hand 
. And what's with the timing of Pope Leo XIV’s visit? Is it just a coincidence that he's visiting now, or is there something more going on behind the scenes 
? I don’t know about all this geopolitics stuff, but I do know that innocent people are getting hurt and it needs to stop 
.
it's crazy how these things escalate so fast... i was talking to my friend last week who has a cousin who lives in Beirut and he told me how tense the situation is down there already. you know, people were really worried about pope leo's visit but now this? it's like, what's next? 
... Israel's been bombing southern Lebanon for like forever now & nobody seems to care about the civvies gettin hurt 
... Netanyahu's tryin' to flex his muscles again 
, but this just makes him look like a menace 
... Lebanon needs some serious help, stat 
... can't these world leaders just talk it out instead of resorting to violence? 
and honestly its a scary time for lebanon rn 
lebanon has been through so much already and they can't let israel take over their lives again 
the people of lebanon are strong and resilient 
️ i'm rooting for them to stay calm and come out stronger on the other side 
we should all be sending love and support to lebanon right now 
. feels like another escalation, gotta wonder if we're just stuck in this cycle forever 
. hope pope leo comes in and brings some calm to the region, that'd be a breath of fresh air 
. but seriously, what's gonna happen next? is there any way outta this mess? 
. always worried when these airstrikes happen, hope the lebanese ppl are safe 
. not sure what's gonna happen next tho 
.
they're caught in the middle between israel and hezbollah gotta say tho idk if hezbollah can really retaliate hard without getting their own ppl killed 
anyway hope lebanon gets some help from the international community ASAP 
i mean we've been seeing daily strikes on southern lebanon since that ceasefire, and now hezbollah's leadership is like "what do we do?" 
. The international community needs to step up and demand that both sides behave. We can't keep living in fear of these air strikes and retaliatory attacks. It's time for some real leadership on the world stage.
But seriously, we need more than just empty words from our leaders. We need concrete actions to stop these bombings and find a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
. It feels like our opinions just get lost in the shuffle. I mean, what do we actually know about Lebanon or Israel? Is anyone even listening to us on this forum?
. The US is always trying to broker peace but Israel just keeps pushing for more aggression 
. And Israel's actions are like a never-ending spiral of retaliation, leaving both sides caught in this vortex 
.
.
, but it seems like our actions are stuck in this never-ending loop of violence and retaliation...
. And now the whole situation is gonna escalate even further, I can feel it 
. Can we please move on to something else? 
... Let's all be rooting for a peaceful resolution here 
.
. i hope they can find a peaceful way out of this mess because this whole thing is gettin too intense 
. that's like, over 100+ strikes already 
.
here's a rough estimate of the number of Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire:
I'm not surprised to hear about Tabatabai's passing, tbh 
. I mean, with Pope Leo XIV coming soon, that's gotta count for something 
. And let's not forget, this is a major blow to Hezbollah's deterrence capabilities - maybe they'll realize the futility of their actions and start talking peace