According to Israeli assessments, Tabatabai was inside a safe house in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district when the Air Force hit the building.
By The IDF Club
For the first time in five months, Israel carried out a targeted strike deep inside Beirut, killing one of Hezbollah’s most senior military leaders in what officials are calling a major strategic achievement.
The operation, approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, eliminated Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s acting chief of staff and the organization’s No. 2 commander. Israel confirmed his death shortly after the strike.
According to Israeli assessments, Tabatabai was inside a safe house in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district when the Air Force hit the building under the direction of Military Intelligence. Lebanese reports said the strike targeted the fourth and fifth floors of a ten-story building on Al-Arid Street in the Haret Hreik neighborhood. Local authorities reported three dead and twenty-five injured.
The IDF described Tabatabai as a veteran and central Hezbollah operative who held multiple senior positions over decades. In its statement, the military said: “Today, November 23, 2025, the IDF struck in the Beirut area and eliminated the terrorist Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s acting chief of staff.”
The statement added that Tabatabai joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and held a long list of senior posts, including commander of the Radwan Force and the group’s operations chief in Syria, where “he strengthened Hezbollah’s entrenchment in the country.”
During the war he was appointed head of Hezbollah’s operations array and was responsible for “building the organization’s force and managing the fighting against Israel.”
Following the elimination of most of Hezbollah’s senior military leadership, he effectively became the group’s top military official and later its formal chief of staff. The IDF said he “commanded most Hezbollah units and worked extensively to restore their preparedness for war with Israel.”
The statement concluded: “The IDF will act against any attempt by Hezbollah to rebuild or rearm and will act forcefully to remove any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the operation, stating that Tabatabai had “bloodstained hands” and had planned to massacre Israeli civilians. He added that Israel “will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its capabilities” and that the Lebanese government must fulfill its responsibilities.
The assassination of Tabatabai is seen by Israeli officials as a decisive blow to Hezbollah’s military leadership at a critical moment in the ongoing conflict, eliminating a commander who had driven the group’s renewed aggression and helped orchestrate attacks on Israel’s northern border.
