Israel Killed Top Commander Because Lebanon Isn’t Disarming Hezbollah

Hezbollah’s active and ongoing regeneration is leading Israel to take increasingly drastic measures to hinder the group’s rearmament. On November 23, an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in Haret Hreik, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing four Hezbollah operatives and the group’s de facto military chief of staff, Haitham Ali Tabatabai, one of Hezbollah’s two top-level commanders.

This is the most significant and escalatory of Israel’s ongoing operations targeting Hezbollah since the November 2024 ceasefire. It underscores both Beirut’s inaction against the group during that period and signals that Israel believes its regeneration may have reached a tipping point.

Who Was Tabatabai and What Did He Do?

Tabatabai, born November 5, 1968, was a “first generation” Hezbollah veteran, joining the group’s military ranks in the mid-1980s. In the intervening decades, he occupied several significant posts, including founding and commanding the group’s Radwan Force commando unit and overseeing Hezbollah’s operations against Sunni militant groups on Lebanon’s border with Syria. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Tabatabai also oversaw Hezbollah’s operations and entrenchment inside Syria.

During the October 7 War, Tabatabai assumed command of Hezbollah’s military operations against Israel. Since then, per Hezbollah’s eulogy, he “assumed responsibility for the Islamic Resistance’s military leadership,” operating as its chief of staff.

As chief, the IDF said, Tabatabai’s duties included “leading the organization’s regeneration … command[ing] most of Hezbollah’s units and work[ing] extensively to restore their readiness for war with Israel.” IDF Army Radio, Galei Tzahal,reported that, over the past year, Tabatabai worked toward this goal with Mohammad Haydar, with whom he shared the organization’s military command.

Hezbollah: Strike ‘Crossed a New Red Line’

Mahmoud Qmati, the deputy chairman of Hezbollah’s Politburo, said the strike “crossed a new red line” underscoring “the need for resistance.” Qmati said “all options are available” and the group’s leadership would “study the matter and undertake the necessary response.” But he stopped short of threatening retaliation. Instead, he said Hezbollah would continue coordinating with the Lebanese state, calling upon Beirut to muster diplomatic pressure to halt Israel’s operations.

Notwithstanding Qmati’s relatively measured statement, Tabatabai’s high rank and the strike’s location — Beirut, rarely targeted over the past year — made Sunday’s attack Israel’s riskiest operation against Hezbollah since the November 2024 ceasefire. Retaliation by Hezbollah could spiral into either a renewed war of attrition or even full conflict. This, in turn, could create friction with the United States, as Washington is demanding regional quiet, seeking partnership with Lebanon, and has actively restrained Israel from escalation.

However, in the year since the ceasefire, Lebanon has demonstrated continued and consistent unwillingness to disarm or meaningfully restrain Hezbollah. After the country’s cabinet declined on September 5 to unambiguously make the Lebanese Armed Forces’ (LAF) disarmament plan — the contents and progress of which remain secret — official policy, President Joseph Aoun stressed Lebanon would not forcibly disarm the group. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam signaled that Beirut had shifted to passively winnowing Hezbollah’s arsenal, rather than seizing and destroying it.

This has allowed Hezbollah’s regeneration to outpace ongoing Israeli operations, leading Jerusalem to repeatedly widen the scope and intensity of its actions against the group over the past month.

Next Steps To Prevent Further Escalation

Obstructing Hezbollah’s rearmament is the only way to prevent a renewed war. Washington should therefore back Israel’s escalation, while leveraging U.S. assistance to the LAF to pressure Lebanon to proactively disarm Hezbollah and seal its borders to funds and weapons for the group. The United States should simultaneously work with international partners to squeeze the group — pressuring France, for example, to end its artificial distinction between Hezbollah’s political and military wings as a precursor to European Union-wide sanctions against the group and its fundraising. Washington should also induce Syria to increase its interdictions of weapons transfers to Hezbollah through its territory, pressure Turkey and Iraq to prevent flights from carrying money to the group, and convince Persian Gulf partners to avoid reengaging with Lebanon until it curbs Hezbollah and enacts significant political and economic reforms.

David Daoud is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs. For more analysis from David and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow David on X @DavidADaoud. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.