Hezbollah confirms top commander Ali Tabtabai killed in Israeli strike in Beirut

The Israeli military on Sunday killed Hezbollah's top military official, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, in a strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital that came despite a year-long ceasefire, Reuters reported.

His killing was announced by Israel's military.

Hezbollah later confirmed his death, hailing him as "the great jihadist commander" who had "worked to confront the Israeli enemy until the last moment of his blessed life,” Reuters reported citing a statement from Hezbollah.

Israel had already eliminated most of Hezbollah's leadership during a war that raged between October 2023 and November 2024, when a U.S.-brokered truce was agreed.

But Tabtabai, who was appointed as the group's chief of staff after its recent war with Israel, was killed in a rare post-ceasefire operation against a senior Hezbollah figure, Reuters reported.

Israel's military said Tabtabai joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and held several senior posts, including in its Radwan Force, an elite fighting unit. Israel killed most Radwan figures last year ahead of its ground invasion into Lebanon.

During last year's war, Tabtabai led Hezbollah's operations division and rose in rank as other top commanders were eliminated, the Israeli military's statement said.

Once the ceasefire came into force, Tabtabai was appointed chief of staff and "worked extensively to restore their readiness for war with Israel," according to the statement.

According to Asharq News, Tabtabai was the second most influential figure in Hezbollah after Secretary General Naim Qassem.

The Lebanese health ministry said that five people died and 28 were injured in the November 23 Israeli strike in southern Beirut.