Israeli strike in Beirut kills senior Hezbollah official ahead of Pope’s Lebanon visit

Israel launched a rare strike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Haret Hreik, killing Hezbollah’s chief of staff Haytham Tabtabai along with four others and injuring 25. Israel’s Defense Minister vowed continued forceful action, while Hezbollah warned of retaliation.

Haret Hreik: Israel on Sunday struck Lebanon’s capital for the first time since June, saying it killed Hezbollah’s chief of staff Haytham Tabtabai and warning the Iran-backed militant group not to rearm and rebuild a year after their latest war.

The strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed five people and wounded 25 others, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

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Hezbollah did not immediately comment. Earlier, it said the strike, launched almost exactly a year after a ceasefire ended that Israel-Hezbollah war, threatened an escalation of attacks — just days before Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lebanon on his first foreign trip.

“We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents of the north and the state of Israel,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

Government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian did not say whether Israel informed the US before the strike, saying only that “Israel makes decisions independently.” Israel did not issue an evacuation warning.

Tabtabai had led Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Unit. Israel’s military said he “commanded most of Hezbollah’s units and worked hard to restore them to readiness for war with Israel.”

In 2016, the United States designated Tabtabai as a terrorist, calling him a military leader who led Hezbollah’s special forces in Syria and Yemen, and it offered up to USD 5 million for information about him.

Tabtabai had been the apparent successor of Ibrahim Aqil, who was killed in September 2024 in Israeli attacks that wiped out much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.