Israel kills top Hezbollah official in first attack on Beirut in months

Israel’s military has killed a senior member of the militant group Hezbollah in an air strike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, despite a ceasefire.

It described Haitham Ali al-Tabtabai, Hezbollah’s chief of staff, as a veteran of the group who had held a series of senior positions.

Lebanon’s health ministry said at least five people were killed and 28 others wounded in the strike, which hit an apartment building in the densely populated Dahieh district.

Hezbollah confirmed Tabtabai’s death, adding Israel had crossed a “red line” in carrying out the strike.

The strike is Israel’s first on southern Beirut for months.

It comes as Israel has escalated its campaign on people and targets it says are linked to Hezbollah - a Shia Muslim group supported by Iran - despite a ceasefire brokered by the US and France that came into effect last November.

Israeli officials say Hezbollah has been trying to rebuild its military capabilities, is smuggling weapons into Lebanon and stepping up the production of explosive drones as an alternative to rockets and missiles, and there are growing fears of an escalation of hostilities.

In a statement after the strike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Under my leadership, the State of Israel will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its power, and we will not allow it to once again pose a threat to the State of Israel.”

He said he expected the Lebanese government “to fulfill its commitment to disarm Hezbollah”.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has urged the international community to put pressure on Israel - which continues to occupy at least five locations in southern Lebanon - to stop the attacks and withdraw from the country, saying the Israeli actions are a violation of the agreement that put an end to 13 months of conflict.

The Lebanese government has vowed to disarm Hezbollah, but the group has rejected calls to discuss the future of its weapons before Israel stops its attacks, fully withdraws from Lebanon, and releases Lebanese prisoners.

A Western diplomatic official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the BBC the authorities are under pressure from the Trump administration, which is growing impatient with what they see as the slow progress against the group, considered a terrorist organisation by countries including the US and UK.

The latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted after the Lebanese group started firing rockets at Israeli positions the day after the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023. Hezbollah said it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Lebanese authorities said Israel’s attacks killed about 4,000 people there - including many civilians - and led to the displacement of more than 1.2 million residents. Israeli authorities said more than 80 of its soldiers and 47 of its civilians were killed in the hostilities.

The US government imposed sanctions on Tabtabai in 2016 and designated him a terrorist. It has a $5m (£3.8m) award on offer for information about him.

The US described him as a key Hezbollah military leader who once commanded the group’s special forces in Syria and Yemen, adding his actions in these countries were part of a larger Hezbollah effort to provide training, material, and personnel “in support of its destabilising regional activities”.

Source: BBC 

--Agencies