Hezbollah threatens retaliation after Israeli killing of top commander in Beirut

Hezbollah’s leadership affirmed its right to respond to the Israeli assassination of its top military commander in a strike on southern Beirut last week.

In a televised address on November 28, Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem described the killing of Haytham Ali Tabtabai as “a blatant aggression and a heinous crime,” adding that the group would determine the timing of its retaliation.

Qassem emphasised that Hezbollah has respected the ceasefire agreed in November 2024, which ended more than a year of hostilities with Israel, and called for an end to ongoing Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

Tabtabai, who was meeting with four of his aides to “prepare for future actions,” was killed in the Israeli strike, Qassem said. He was the most senior Hezbollah commander targeted by Israel since the truce, during which Israel has continued to strike members and infrastructure of the Iran-backed group.

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out airstrikes in southern Beirut on November 24, killing Tabtabai, whom the Israel Defence Forces described as Hezbollah’s Chief of Staff and “a key operative and veteran in the terrorist organisation.”

The IDF called the strikes its first in Beirut in months, noting that Israel has largely refrained from targeting the Lebanese capital since early June, when it said it destroyed underground drone production facilities used by Hezbollah.

Tabtabai’s death marks another blow to Hezbollah’s leadership, which has been weakened by a series of Israeli attacks over the past year, including the September 2024 killing of long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah in southern Beirut. Israeli strikes have also targeted communication networks, including pagers and walkie-talkies, and killed dozens of the group’s fighters.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps responded to Tabtabai’s killing by calling for “revenge,” signalling potential escalation in the region.

The US has long considered Tabtabai a key figure in Hezbollah’s military operations, designating him a terrorist in 2016 for his command of the group’s special forces in Syria and Yemen. The US Rewards for Justice program had offered up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.

The November 2024 ceasefire, brokered by the United States, has not halted Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, and tensions between Israel and Hezbollah remain high.

By Tamilla Hasanova