Sun 23 November 2025:
The Israeli military has launched an attack on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, killing at least one person and wounding 21 others, officials said.
Sunday’s strike on an apartment block in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh took place despite a ceasefire that came into effect a year ago to end hostilities that had erupted into a full-blown war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Hezbollah’s chief of staff Haytham Ali Tabatabai was the target. Israeli media said it was the military’s third attempt to kill him since last year’s war.
Hezbollah has yet to confirm if he was injured or killed.
Born to an Iranian father and a Lebanese mother, Haytham Ali Tabatabai (Abu Ali) has for years been among Hezbollah’s most senior and influential military commanders.
He climbed through critical roles in the group’s armed wing, including leading the “intervention” component of the elite Radwan Force, serving as a pivotal figure in the joint operations room and general staff during the Syrian war, and carrying out military assignments in Yemen.
After the killings of Fuad Shukr (Sayyed Mohsen) and Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah appointed him to head the southern front’s operations room. Israeli sources have repeatedly described him as one of the most dangerous commanders directly confronting Israeli forces.
Within the organization, he is regarded as a key player in military rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts and was given oversight of the resistance’s joint operations staff—a highly sensitive and central position.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that two missiles were fired at the apartment building on al-Arid Street in Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Dahiyeh, and significant damage was inflicted on cars and surrounding buildings.
Ambulances arrived immediately at the scene and transported the injured to nearby hospitals, it said. A large plume of smoke could be seen in the busy neighbourhood, according to the local media.
One video widely circulated on social media showed dozens of people crowded around the area of the strike.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the international community to intervene firmly to stop the Israeli attacks on the country.
In a statement on Sunday, Aoun said Lebanon “reiterates its call to the international community to assume its responsibility and intervene firmly and seriously to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people”.
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Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said the fact that the Lebanese capital was targeted without prior warning is an indication that they were after “a high value target”. She said that Israel has previously issued forced evacuation orders before its strikes on the capital.
“We still have no confirmation, but if indeed Haytham Ali Tabatabai was targeted and killed, this would be a major blow to the organisation, which already suffered many blows in Israel’s war against the group,” she said.
“It would also be a major security breach,” she added.
Israel and the US have been piling the pressure on Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.
The Lebanese military issued a plan that the government approved in September that would disarm Hezbollah across the country by the end of the year. Hezbollah has refused to do so while Israel continues to bomb the country and occupy parts of the south.
Israel has said Hezbollah is trying to rebuild its military capabilities in southern Lebanon whereas the Lebanese government has denied those claims.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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