BEIRUT — Israeli forces killed Hezbollah’s military chief of staff on Sunday with an airstrike on Beirut, the first attack on the Lebanese capital in more than five months.
The attack, which hit a residential building in the densely packed neighborhood of Haret Hreik in southern Beirut, targeted Haytham Ali Tabatabai, a Hezbollah veteran considered one of its highest remaining military officials. Israeli and Hezbollah officials confirmed Tabatabai’s death.
Coming without warning, the strike sent nearby civilians fleeing for fear of further attacks. Videos of the aftermath showed smoke pouring out of the fourth floor of one building and a huge plume rising above the apartment blocks. The Lebanese Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, said that five people were killed and 28 injured.
“We will not allow Hezbollah, the terror organization, to recover and rebuild its strength and threaten Israel from anywhere inside of Lebanon,” said Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Hezbollah’s “activities continue to constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” she added, without providing details about how the group has been trying to rebuild its capabilities.
The attack adds to a growing unease in Lebanon that Israel may renew a broader offensive against Hezbollah. The Israeli military has carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon since a U.S.-brokered truce last November ended a two-month war, which devastated parts of the country and eviscerated much of Hezbollah’s military prowess.
But the strikes have intensified in recent weeks and their scope has expanded, with Israel increasingly accusing Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its strength and the Lebanese government of being too slow to disarm the group.
The strike on Sunday targeted the Dahieh section of the city, where Hezbollah has maintained its headquarters and has long housed officials and others affiliated with the group.
“The opportunity came based on real-time intelligence,” said a person familiar with Israel’s execution of the strike, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the operation. “The Americans were not informed in advance.”
Tabatabai was considered one of the three highest-ranking Hezbollah military officials left after the war, according to a Hezbollah member familiar with the organization’s ranks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press. Tabatabai had previously led the elite Radwan unit and was designated a terrorist by the United States in 2016 for leading Hezbollah’s special forces in Syria and Yemen.
“Today’s aggression crossed a new red line,” said Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, speaking to journalists at the site of the attack. “The strike on the southern suburbs today opens the door to an escalation of assaults all over Lebanon.”
The attack came one week ahead of the scheduled visit of Pope Leo XIV to Beirut.
Haidamous reported from Washington and Soroka from Tel Aviv.
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