Israel Kills Senior Hezbollah Official 11/24 06:08

   

   HARET HREIK, Lebanon (AP) -- Israel on Sunday struck Lebanon's capital for 
the first time since June, saying it killed Hezbollah's chief of staff Haytham 
Tabtabai and warning the Iran-backed militant group not to rearm and rebuild a 
year after their latest war.

   The strike in Beirut's southern suburbs killed five people and wounded 25 
others, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.

   Hezbollah confirmed Tabtabai's death. Earlier it said the strike, launched 
almost exactly a year after a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, threatened 
an escalation of attacks -- just days before Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit 
Lebanon on his first foreign trip.

   "We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents 
of the north and the state of Israel," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz 
said. The military instructed residents in northern Israel near the Lebanese 
border to continue with daily routines, indicating that it did not anticipate a 
military response from Hezbollah.

   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Tabtabai of leading 
Hezbollah's efforts to rearm.

   Israeli airstrikes over southern Lebanon have intensified in recent weeks 
while Israel and the United States have pressured Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah. 
Israel asserts that the group is trying to rebuild its military capabilities. 
The Lebanese government, which supports disarming Hezbollah, has denied those 
claims. It also says troops have deployed to the south but that its 
cash-strapped army needs more resources.

   Hezbollah has not attacked Israel since the ceasefire began. In December, it 
fired a couple of rockets that landed on open territory near an Israeli 
military base and called it a "warning."

   Tabtabai had been the apparent successor of Ibrahim Aqil, who was killed in 
September 2024 in Israeli attacks that wiped out much of Hezbollah's senior 
leadership, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah. Tabtabai also had led 
Hezbollah's elite Radwan Unit. In 2016, the U.S. designated him as a terrorist, 
calling him a military leader who led Hezbollah's special forces in Syria and 
Yemen, and it offered up to $5 million for information about him.

   'Escalation of assaults'

   "Hezbollah's leadership is studying the matter of response and will take the 
appropriate decision," Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah's political 
council, told journalists at the scene. "The strike on the southern suburbs 
today opens the door to an escalation of assaults all over Lebanon."

   Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun in a statement condemned the strike and 
accused Israel of refusing to implement its end of the ceasefire agreement. He 
called on the international community to "intervene with strength and 
seriousness to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people."

   Israel's military statement said Israel remains committed to the 
"understandings" agreed upon by Israel and Lebanon.

   Smoke could be seen in the busy Haret Hreik neighborhood, where Israel did 
not issue an evacuation warning before the strike. The fourth floor of an 
apartment building was damaged. Gunshots were heard to disperse crowds as 
emergency workers arrived.

   "This is definitely a civilian area and void of any military presence," 
Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Ammar told reporters.

   An Israeli drone was flying near the building targeted.

   "They want to take our weapons. But our weapons will not be taken," said 
Maryam Assaf, who lives nearby and heard the strike. She said it "only gives us 
more determination, strength, and dignity."

   Hezbollah severely weakened

   Lebanon's president last week said the country is ready to enter 
negotiations with Israel to stop its airstrikes and to withdraw from five 
hilltop points it occupies on Lebanese territory. He also has said Lebanon is 
committed to disarming all non-state actors in the country, including Hezbollah.

   Hezbollah has said that talk about its military arsenal should come through 
dialogue with the Lebanese state once Israel stops its attacks.

   The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas 
attacked southern Israel, as Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity 
with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon last year that 
severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.

   That war was the most recent of several conflicts involving Hezbollah over 
the past four decades. It killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including 
hundreds of civilians, and caused an estimated $11 billion worth of 
destruction, according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 
80 soldiers.

   On Tuesday, an Israeli strike killed 13 people in the Palestinian refugee 
camp of Ein el-Hilweh near the southern city of Sidon in the deadliest attack 
since the ceasefire went into effect. The military said it targeted a military 
facility belonging to the Palestinian Hamas militant group. Hamas denied it has 
any military facilities in the crowded camp.

   Oct. 7 attack

   Meanwhile, the Israeli army's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said he 
was sanctioning 13 army officials who were top commanders on Oct. 7, 2023. Some 
were censured and others forced into retirement.

   Among those punished were the then-heads of military intelligence, the 
army's operation branch and the Southern Command, which is responsible for the 
Gaza Strip. All three men have already resigned. They were removed from reserve 
duty and told their military careers are over.

   Zamir noted the "severe, resounding and systemic failure" to protect 
Israelis before and during the attack as well as the need to "set a clear 
standard of command responsibility."