BEIRUT, 25 November (H.S.): Thousands of mourners gathered in Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday for the funeral of Hezbollah's top military commander, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike the previous day.
The assassination, which also killed four other Hezbollah members, represents a major escalation in the long-simmering conflict and has drawn threats of retaliation from Iran.Tabatabai was the most senior Hezbollah figure to be killed by Israel since a fragile ceasefire was brokered in November 2024, ending over a year of intense hostilities.
The Israeli military confirmed it had eliminated the terrorist Haytham Ali Tabatabai, whom it identified as Hezbollah's chief of staff. The strike targeted an apartment building in the densely populated Haret Hreik neighborhood, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) swiftly condemned the killing as a cowardly and terrorist act, declaring that the right of the Axis of Resistance and Lebanese Hezbollah to avenge the blood of the brave fighters of Islam is unquestionable.
A senior Hezbollah official, Ali Damush, told funeral-goers that Israel was worried about Hezbollah's possible response -- and should remain worried.The international community has reacted with alarm.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern and urged restraint, while France's foreign ministry also called for de-escalation. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike as a violation of the ceasefire and urged the international community to intervene.
Despite the ceasefire, which called for Hezbollah to withdraw its forces north of the Litani River, Israel has conducted near-daily strikes in Lebanon, accusing the group of rearming.
Analysts believe Hezbollah's options for retaliation are limited, as a direct response could trigger a much larger conflict that Lebanon is ill-prepared for. The assassination of Tabatabai, however, has significantly raised the stakes and put the region on high alert for further violence.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
