Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Israel carried out a rare airstrike on the southern outskirts of Beirut on Sunday, killing Hezbollah’s acting chief of staff, Ali Tabtabai, in one of the most significant single blows to the Iran-backed group since last year’s US-brokered ceasefire. The attack, which struck the Hezbollah stronghold of Haret Hreik, shattered months of relative calm in the Lebanese capital and immediately raised fears of renewed escalation along the Israel-Lebanon frontier.
The Israeli military confirmed it had targeted and killed Tabtabai, describing him as a pivotal figure responsible for restoring Hezbollah’s military units to a state of readiness for potential war. Israel has long regarded him as one of the group’s most strategic commanders. The United States sanctioned Tabtabai in 2016 and offered a reward of up to $5 million for information on his activities, citing his role in Hezbollah’s overseas military operations.
Hezbollah acknowledged Tabtabai’s death but offered few details about his exact responsibilities, referring to him only as a revered commander who had worked against Israel “until the last moment of his blessed life.” The group’s public mourning underscored both his seniority and the blow dealt to its military structure.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported that five people were killed and 28 wounded when the strike hit a multi-story building, sending debris cascading onto a busy street below. Residents fled their homes in panic, fearing additional strikes, as emergency crews combed through rubble-strewn roads.
From the scene, senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati condemned the attack as a red line crossed, saying the movement’s leadership would determine the timing and scale of any response. His comments reflected the precarious balance Hezbollah has tried to maintain since the ceasefire took effect in November 2024.
The truce, intended to halt a year of clashes that erupted after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli positions following the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, has been repeatedly strained. Israel continued conducting targeted strikes in Lebanon throughout the truce, insisting it was acting against Hezbollah stockpiles, fighters and reconstruction efforts. Those attacks have intensified in recent weeks, deepening Lebanese concerns that the conflict could reignite.
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian defended Sunday’s strike, saying Israel would not permit Hezbollah to rebuild military capacity anywhere inside Lebanon. When asked whether Washington had been alerted beforehand, she stated that Israel acts on its own assessments and decisions.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the international community to intervene to stop Israeli attacks, warning that persistent breaches of Lebanese sovereignty threatened to unravel what remained of the fragile ceasefire. Lebanon accuses Israel of violating the truce by continuing airstrikes and maintaining control of five southern posts inside Lebanese territory. Aoun has said he is open to negotiations but has not received a substantive response from Israeli officials.
For its part, Israel argues that Hezbollah is attempting to regroup in the south and says Lebanon must do more to curb the presence of unauthorized weapons throughout the country, including those held by Hezbollah. The militant group insists it has not fired on Israel since the ceasefire began and maintains it is adhering to the agreement.
The strike also comes at a sensitive political moment for Lebanon, just days before Pope Leo’s planned visit his first foreign trip, which many Lebanese hoped would signal a period of renewed stability. Instead, the killing of one of Hezbollah’s most senior military figures has thrust Lebanon once more into an uneasy limbo, with both sides bracing for potential retaliation and the fragile truce hanging by a thread.
