By Mandy TaheriShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberIsrael struck Beirut on Sunday in an attack that "eliminated" Hezbollah’s chief of staff Ali Tabatabai, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. The strike also killed and wounded dozens of other people.
The IDF referred Newsweek to its Sunday statement, in which the military said it "will act against efforts to rebuild and rearm the Hezbollah terrorist organization and will operate to remove any threat posed to Israeli civilians."
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment via email on Sunday.
Why It Matters
Sunday’s attack was the first strike on Beirut in months, fueling fears of wider escalation as Israel continues to navigate fragile ceasefires with Hezbollah and Hamas in the region.
Last year, Israel intensified operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah, killing its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in September, and destroying much of the group's senior command and weapons stockpiles. Hezbollah signed a truce with the IDF in November 2024, though Israeli forces have continued to conduct attacks in Lebanon and occupy areas across the border.
What To Know
The IDF confirmed in a social media post and statement that Israel “conducted a precise strike” in Beirut on Sunday morning. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the strike occurred in the “heart of Beirut,” against Tabatabai who he says was leading Hezbollah's "buildup and rearmament.” The IDF confirmed he was killed.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Tabatabai in 2016, offering a reward of up to $5 million for information on the senior Hezbollah leader, according to Reuters.
Sunday’s strike hit a main throughway in Beirut’s southern suburbs, and the Associated Press reported Israel did not issue an evacuation warning ahead of the strike in the residential area.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that at least five people were killed, and 25 others were wounded in a strike in the city’s southern suburbs, according to the AP.
Israel and Hezbollah have a long history of conflict, with the latest Israel-Hezbollah war starting after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel launched ground and air strike operations on Gaza, and later Lebanon. Last September, Israel launched a military operation in Lebanon that displaced tens of thousands, deepened instability and killed more than 4,000 people, including many civilians. Two months later, a ceasefire truce was signed.
The Israeli military has carried out repeated strikes in Lebanon since the ceasefire and has yet to withdraw from all agreed positions in the south, keeping troops at several posts. Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rearm.
...What People Are Saying
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Sunday: “We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents of the north and the state of Israel.”
Mohamad Safa, executive director of Patriotic Vision and U.N. representative, wrote in an X post on Sunday: “Israel just bombed a residential neighborhood in Beirut, violated Security Council resolution SCR 1701, the ceasefire agreement, and international law with absolutely no consequences. This is another war crime and the International Criminal Court remains silent.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strikes in a Sunday statement and urged the international community to “intervene with strength and seriousness to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people.”
What Happens Next?
Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, per the AP, told journalists on Sunday that “the strike on the southern suburbs today opens the door to an escalation of assaults all over Lebanon.”
Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lebanon at the end of November into early December, meeting with some of the country’s political and religious leaders.
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