Hezbollah asserts its ‘right to respond’ after Israel assassinates group’s military chief
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Hezbollah asserts its ‘right to respond’ after Israel assassinates group’s military chief")
Mourners carry the coffins of top Hezbollah military chief Haytham Ali Tabatabai and others killed in an Israeli strike. Photograph: (AFP (File Photo)
Haytham Ali Tabatabai was the most senior commander from the Iran-backed group to be killed by Israel since a November 2024 truce sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the two sides.
Hezbollah on Friday (Nov 28) said that it has the right to respond to Israel's military strikes that assassinated the group's military chief, Haytham Ali Tabtaba, in the Lebanese capital, Beirut's suburbs, last week. In a televised speech, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem called the killing of Tabtabai "a blatant aggression and a heinous crime", adding that his group had "the right to respond, and we will determine the timing for that".
Haytham Ali Tabatabai was the most senior commander from the Iran-backed group to be killed by Israel since a November 2024 truce sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the two sides. The strikes on Sunday were part of Israel's intensifying attacks on Lebanon, with the United States pushing the government to disarm the group and choke off the sources of funding of Hezbollah.
Iran criticised Tabatabai's assassinations and termed them "cowardly." Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said, "The right of the Axis of Resistance and Lebanese Hezbollah to avenge the blood of the brave fighters of Islam is unquestionable."
Hundreds of supporters of Hezbollah joined the funeral procession of Tabatabai and his two aids on Monday in Beirut's densely packed suburbs, where the group commands significant popularity among locals.
The Israel–Hezbollah conflict has sharply escalated following Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and subsequent invasion of Gaza by the Israel Defence Forces, along with targeted strikes on Hamas' allies in the region, including Lebanon-based Hezbollah, pushing the Middle East to one of its most dangerous points since the 2006 war. Tensions surged after Israel intensified strikes across Lebanon, targeting command centres, rocket sites and senior leaders of Hezbollah.
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In September 2024, the most significant escalation came with the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the long-time chief of Hezbollah, in an Israeli air raid that levelled multiple apartment blocks in Beirut. Israel also eliminated top military commanders, aiming to weaken Hezbollah’s operational structure. In response, Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets and drones across northern Israel, displacing thousands and drawing warnings from global powers about the risk of a wider regional war.
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A ceasefire agreement was implemented between Israel and Hezbollah on November 27, 2024, brokered by the United States and France. The recent strikes by Israel killing Haytham Ali Tabatabai mark the most significant escalation between Israel and the Iran-backed group since the 2024 truce.
