By Rohan Gunaratna

Introduction

After Iran started to rearm Hezbollah, Israel once again struck Lebanon’s capital on November 23, 2025. Without an evacuation warning, Israel struck Lebanon for the first time since June 2025, killing Hezbollah’s Chief of Staff Haitham Ali Tabataba’i. Born in 1968 in Beirut and raised in southern Lebanon, Tabataba’i was the son of a south Lebanese mother and an Iranian father. Hence, he was in charge of Iran’s plans to rebuild the Hezbollah. Most of his adult life, he served the Hezbollah providing training, material, and personnel “in support of its destabilising regional activities” according to the U.S.

An Israeli strike in Beirut eliminated No.2 in Hezbollah who was the target. The IDF named the operation in Beirut ‘BLACK FRIDAY’. Both the US and Israel constantly and continuously monitored him. In 2015, Israel attempted to assassinate Tabataba’i in southern Syria, in a strike that killed Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Imad Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah commander killed in Damascus in 2008.

Even as Hezbollah leaders claimed that they learned their lessons and sealed the intelligence gaps that had allowed Israel to eliminate the organization’s entire top echelon, the IDF assassination has demonstrated its superior fighting capability.

The Israeli Air Force hit the Dahieh area of Beirut in Lebanon, targeting Tabataba’i, the number two leader of the Hezbollah. The strike was approved in real time by the prime minister and defense minister based on fast breaking intelligence while the jets were already in the air, with the munitions released minutes later. Israel immediately prepared for the possibility that Hezbollah will choose to respond by attacking Israel.

The Context

A day after Hamas-led terrorist groups in Gaza attacked Israel and took its citizens and foreigners hostage on October 7, 2023, the Hezbollah started to fire rockets into Israel. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers. In retaliation Israel decimated the Hezbollah rank and file.

Israeli operations in Lebanon killed 4,000 people in Lebanon, displaced more than 1.2 million residents, and caused an estimated $11 billion worth of destruction, according to the World Bank. In addition to hollowing out the group’s military leadership, the MOSSAD, Israel’s foreign intelligence service blew up pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members killing, maiming and injuring them.

After it’s supreme leader Hassan Nasrallah and other leaders were decapitated by Israel, Iran’s intelligence service – the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps – embarked on an ambitious plan to support Hezbollah to restore its rank and file. Tabataba’i was the successor of Ibrahim Aqil, who was killed by Israel in September 2024. One of the world’s most deadly terrorist groups, the Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed five people and wounded 25 others, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

One of the most wanted terrorists, the US in 2016 designated Tabataba’i calling him a military leader who led Hezbollah’s special forces in Syria and Yemen and offered up to $5 million for information about him. He helped train, arm and guide proxy militias for Iran in Yemen, Syria and across the region. Washington said his role was to build and lead elite Hezbollah units that fought for the Assad regime and supported the Houthi movement, turning him into a central figure in Hezbollah’s external operations and one of the men most responsible for exporting the organization’s terror and instability beyond Lebanon.

Tabataba’i once led Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Unit that trained Hamas which attacked Israel. He also commanded most of Hezbollah’s units and according to Israeli sources “worked hard to restore them to readiness for war with Israel.”

Israeli Thinking

The statements released by Israeli leaders especially by Prime Minister Netanyahu after the IDF targeted Tabataba’i reflects Israeli plans.

Statement by Prime Minister to dismantle the Hezbollah.

Benjamin Netanyahu said, “A few hours ago, the IDF eliminated Ali Tabataba’i, the Chief-of-Staff of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Tabataba’i is a mass murderer. His hands are soaked in the blood of many Israelis and Americans, and it is not for nothing that the US put a bounty of five million dollars on his head.

Tabataba’i served as a senior commander in the Radwan Force. This is the force that prepared to conquer the Galilee and slaughter many of our citizens. Recently, he led Hezbollah’s renewed efforts to rearm, this is of course after the heavy blows Hezbollah suffered in the ‘Pager Operation,’ in the damage to its missile stockpiles, and of course, in the elimination of Nasrallah. I thank the IDF and the security forces which carried out a professional, accurate, and successful operation today. The policy I am leading is absolutely clear: Under my leadership, the State of Israel will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its power, and we will not allow it to pose a threat to the State of Israel again. I expect the Government of Lebanon to fulfill its commitment to disarm Hezbollah.

Because only in this way can a better future be made possible for every citizen in Lebanon, and only in this way can good and secure neighborly relations be established between Israel and Lebanon.”

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

The IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir in a statement after the attack, said:

“The strike was intended to prevent the organization from further strengthening its capabilities and to deliver a precise blow to those who attempt to harm the State of Israel.”

Hezbollah announced the deaths of 4 other members who were eliminated in the IDF air strike which killed the Hezbollah Chief of Staff

Hezbollah announced the deaths of 4 other members who were eliminated in the IDF air strike which killed the Hezbollah Chief of Staff

The Future

Israel will not permit Lebanon to return to the situation that existed prior to October 7, 2023, with Hezbollah posing a looming threat on Israel’s northern border.

The U.S. is supporting the Lebanese military to rebuild its capabilities to disarm Hezbollah. President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam too expressed their commitment to disarming Hezbollah. However, neither it’s sponsor Iran nor Hezbollah has given up on the idea of fighting back. In the lead up to the strike, Israel warned the Lebanese government not to permit Hezbollah to rebuild its depleted forces. Furthermore, Israel threatened Hezbollah reprisals if it started to restore its capabilities.

Israel is also likely to eliminate the incumbent Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem and other leaders in the coming weeks and months.

Conclusion

After the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon from November 30 to December 2, 2025, Israel will step up its operations against the Hezbollah. A part of his first apostolic journey abroad, the visit includes meeting with Lebanese officials, an ecumenical and interreligious gathering, and a youth meeting.

Israel has received broad international support to dismantle Hezbollah, a task the Lebanese military is unable to do. Hezbollah is rebuilding its military arsenal, especially its fleet of cheap and highly efficient drones. Hezbollah has succeeded in disrupting the Lebanese military’s monitoring of its disarmament. However, Israel is planning to launch a powerful and an unprecedented military campaign against Hezbollah.

Rohan Gunaratna is the editor of the Handbook of Terrorism in the Middle East. He is a threat specialist with expertise in irregular warfare.