Israel says it killed top Hezbollah commander in Beirut

The Israeli military said it killed a senior Hezbollah commander in a strike on Beirut, as it pushes to keep the battered terrorist group from rebuilding following a cease-fire the two sides reached last year.

The strike, the first on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital in months, targeted Iran-backed Hezbollah’s acting chief of staff, Ali Tabtabai, the Israeli military said in a statement.

There was no immediate confirmation of his killing from Hezbollah, although senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati confirmed a central figure from the group had been targeted.

Speaking near the bombed-out building in the Haret Hreik suburb, he said Israel’s strike crossed a “red line”. Qmati said Hezbollah’s leadership would decide on whether and how the group would respond.

Lebanon’s health ministry said the strike killed five people and wounded 28 more. It hit a multi-storey building, sending debris crashing into cars on the main road below. The United States imposed sanctions on Tabtabai in 2016, identifying him as a key Hezbollah leader and offering a reward of up to $5 million for information on him.

The Israeli military statement said Tabtabai “commanded most of Hezbollah’s units and worked hard to restore them to readiness for war with Israel”. In a short televised statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its forces and that he expected the Lebanese government “to fulfill its obligation to disarm Hezbollah.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged the international community to intervene to halt Israeli attacks. The strike came a week before Pope Leo is set to land in Lebanon on his first foreign trip, with many Lebanese hoping the visit could signal the country was heading towards better days.

The November 2024 ceasefire was meant to end a year of fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, triggered by Hezbollah’s rocketfire on Israeli posts a day after the October 7, 2023 attack by its Palestinian ally Hamas.

But Israel has kept up near-daily strikes on Lebanon since the truce, targeting what it says are Hezbollah arms depots, fighters and efforts by the group to rebuild. It has ratcheted up those strikes in recent weeks.

Asked if Israel had notified the U.S. before carrying out the strike, Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said Israel makes decisions independently.