A senior Hezbollah military figure, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, was killed on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike targeting Beirut’s Haret Hreik district, a long-established stronghold of the Lebanese group.
Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces both confirmed his death, while Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that at least five people were killed in the strike and 28 others injured. Tabatabai — known as Abu Ali Tabatabai — joined Hezbollah in the early 1980s and was regarded as one of the group’s most enduring commanders after surviving years of Israeli assassination attempts.
Israeli officials described him as Hezbollah’s effective second-in-command, claiming he played a key role in the group’s rearmament efforts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the strike as part of Israel’s campaign to weaken what it views as an Iran-aligned threat, noting that the US previously offered a $5 million bounty for Tabatabai.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the attack and urged international intervention to halt the ongoing Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
Year after ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel mediated by US, the Israeli Air Force carried out precision strike deep in Beirut to eliminate Top Hezbollah Commander & chief of staff Haytham Ali Tabatabai.
Tabatabai was previously leading the Radwan Force and the Southern… pic.twitter.com/KTJzqbpJ1v— ASHUTOSH MISHRA (@JournoAshutosh) November 23, 2025
