Haytham Tabatabai funeral in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: Marwan Bou Haidar/Al Akhbar.
By Aseel Saleh – Nov 25, 2025
Media reports suggest that Israel may have been motivated by the USD 5 million bounty previously offered by the US government.
Israeli warplanes launched a deadly airstrike on a residential building in the Haret Hreik area, in the southern suburb (Dahiyeh) of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on the evening of November 23.
The aerial aggression resulted in the assasination of Hezbollah Chief of Staff Haytham Tabatabai (also known as Sayyed Abu Ali), and four other members of the Lebanese resistance group. The slain members were identified as Mustafa Bero, Rifaat Hussein, Qassem Barjawi, and Ibrahim Hussein.
Why was the elimination of Tabatabai a strategic goal for Israel?
Tabatabai has been renowned for his seasoned military achievements since the foundation of Hezbollah in 1982, throughout its battles until the liberation of southern Lebanon from the Israeli occupation in 2000, and in its operations against Israel during the 2006 war.
Furthemore, the veteran resistance leader has been celebrated as a co-founder of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force. He has also been credited for his role in training resistance fighters not only in Lebanon, but also in other operational areas of the Axis of Resistance across West Asia, including Syria and Yemen.
Sayyed Abu Ali was one of the three highest-ranking officers of Hezbollah, and the second-in command after the group’s Secretary General Sheik Naim Qassem, following the assassination of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy Hashem Safieddine between September and October 2024.
On the one hand, it is believed that Israel became more determined to eliminate Tabatabai due to his efforts to rebuild Hezbollah’s military capabilities, after they were undermined by Israel’s ongoing aggression on Lebanon for over two years.
On the other hand, some media outlets indicated the possibility that the Israeli government decided to assassinate him to get a USD 5 million reward, which the United States had offered in 2018 for information leading to his capture. The bounty was mentioned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a televised speech in which he announced the assassination of Tabatabai.
Tabatabai was a “great jihadi commander”, says Hezbollah
Hezbollah issued a statement on Sunday, mourning Tabatabai as a “great Jihadi commander”, who “ascended as a martyr in sacrifice for Lebanon and its people”.
“The great commander joined his martyred brothers after a long period of awaiting the meeting with Allah Almighty, following a life filled with jihad, sincerity, dedication, and steadfastness on the path of resistance. He spent his blessed life working tirelessly in confronting the ‘Israeli’ enemy until his last moments. He knew no fatigue or hesitation in defending his land and people. He dedicated his life to the resistance since its inception and was among the leaders who laid its foundational structure, enabling it to remain strong, dignified, and capable of defending the homeland and achieving victories,” the statement added.
Hezbollah also asserted that Tabatabai’s “pure blood will empower the fighters to continue with steadfastness and courage to thwart all the schemes of the Zionist enemy and its sponsor, America.”
During Tabatabai’s funeral on Monday, Hezbollah Executive Council head Sheikh Ali Daamoush declared, “The Zionists should be worried, they made a big mistake.”
Palestinian resistance groups mourn Tabatabai
Mourning the assassinated resistance leader, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, said in a statement released on Sunday evening, that Tabatabai “ascended as a martyr on the path to Jerusalem alongside a group of his brothers in a criminal Zionist raid that targeted them in the southern suburb of Lebanon.”
The brigades praised Tabatabai as “a mujahid, a brave commander, one of the pillars of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, a symbol of the Axis of Resistance, and a supporter for the Palestinian resistance factions.”
Meanwhile, Hamas hailed Tabatabai’s resistance legacy, saying:
“With all due appreciation, we recall the jihadist legacy of the great commander Haytham Tabatabai, and his immense sacrifices in confrontation with the Zionist entity, and during the heroic battle of the support front in solidarity with our people and brave resistance in the Gaza Strip”.
‘Israel’ Attacks South Lebanon in Glaring Breach of Sovereignty, Truce
Yemen’s Ansar Allah commends Tabatabai’s decades-long role in strengthening the resistance
The Political Bureau of Yemen’s resistance movement, Ansar Allah, expressed its deep condolences to Hezbollah in a statement issued on Monday, commending Tabatabai’s “decades-long role in strengthening the resistance”, and vowing “continued struggle against the Zionist enemy”.
Ansar Allah said that Hezbollah has offered “the greatest lessons, noblest battles, and purest blood in defense of Lebanon, its sovereignty, and the Palestinian cause.”
It also accused “certain Arab regimes” of enabling Israel’s continued aggression on Lebanon by choosing “to align with the enemy rather than stand with their people”.
Iran’s IRGC vows revenge for Tabatabai
For its part, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) issued a statement on Monday, November 24, denouncing the operation that targeted Tabtabai as “a clear terrorist crime”, and a “cowardly act, which took place during a supposed ceasefire that the Israelis have often broken”.
The IRGC emphasized that the offensive “is not proof of strength but shows the enemy’s weakness and helplessness against the will of regional nations and the Resistance Front.”
The corps further pledged a “crushing response” to the assassination of Hezbollah’s top commander and his fellow resistance fighters, stating:
“Undoubtedly, the Resistance Front and Lebanon’s Hezbollah reserve the right to avenge the blood of the brave fighters of Islam. When the time comes, a crushing response will be given to the terrorist aggressor.”
