Israeli Airstrike Kills Senior Hezbollah Commander in Beirut
An Israeli airstrike in Beirut has killed Haytham Ali Tabatabai, a senior Hezbollah commander and second-in-command of the militant group. The attack, which killed at least five people and injured 28 others, occurred in the Haret Hreik district, a Hezbollah stronghold. Both Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed his death, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praising the strike as part of Israel’s ongoing efforts to dismantle the group.
Tabatabai, who joined Hezbollah as a teenager after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, was one of the few long-serving commanders to survive Israel’s targeted-killing campaign last year. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group opposing Israeli regional dominance, condemned the attack, with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun calling on the international community to intervene to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people.
Netanyahu claimed Tabatabai had been overseeing Hezbollah’s rearmament efforts as the organization worked to rebuild its capabilities following a string of setbacks by Israel, including the detonation of booby-trapped parsed last year that Israeli intelligence previously infiltrated into the movement’s supply channels. He argued that dismantling the organization would enable “a better future… for every citizen in Lebanon.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest attack, calling on the international community to “assume its responsibility and intervene firmly and seriously to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people.”