Hezbollah Commander Tabatabai Killed

Haytham Ali Tabatabai, also known as “Abu Ali,” was killed on 23 November 2025 in an Israeli airstrike targeting a residential building in the Haret Hreik district of Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Erm neticians in the Lebanese health ministry reported five dead and at least 28 wounded in the strike.

Born in 1968 in Beirut to a Lebanese mother and a father with Iranian roots, Tabatabai joined Hezbollah in the 1980s, placing him among its “second-generation” fighters rather than its original founders.

Over more than four decades, he rose through the ranks of Hezbollah’s military structure, serving in senior field commands and intelligence operations roles.

He reportedly led Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, held command in its Nabatieh and Khiam operational zones, and from 2024 assumed the role of chief of staff — making him one of the group’s highest remaining military figures.

The Israeli military described Tabatabai as a key architect in rebuilding Hezbollah’s combat readiness after the 2023-24 war and held him responsible for coordinating operations across Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. The United States had already sanctioned him as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” in 2016, offering a reward for information leading to his capture.

His killing is significant because it marks the most senior Hezbollah figure taken out by Israel since the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November 2024.  Hezbollah condemned the attack as a “treacherous” violation of Lebanese sovereignty and warned that it may trigger further escalation.

Lebanon’s president and other officials have called for international intervention, saying their state cannot guarantee protection for its civilians or territory in the face of such strikes.

The strike raises several key implications: it signals a bold Israeli action inside Beirut for the first time in months, underlining that Israel considers Hezbollah’s rearmament and readiness a high priority target. The event also greatly increases the risk of a broader flare-up between Israel and Hezbollah, threatening a return to full-scale conflict in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah now faces a strategic choice: whether and how to respond without triggering a war it may be less prepared for.

Source: Reuters · Al Jazeera · The Guardia