Who Is Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah Deputy Chief That Israel Killed In Beirut Strike?

Last Updated:November 24, 2025, 01:38 IST

Israeli news media outlets called him a military mastermind for the Lebanese militant group.

Israel says Ali Tabatabai was a key Hezbollah strategist who shaped the group’s military operations. (IMAGE: X)

Israel carried out one of its most aggressive strikes inside Beirut in years, killing Hezbollah’s deputy chief and top military commander, Ali Tabatabai.

The operation, conducted deep inside the Lebanese capital, was the first major Israeli strike since the November 2024 ceasefire and the first time the Israeli Air Force targeted a senior Hezbollah figure since the ceasefire.

It was the fifth Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs since a ceasefire agreed in November 2024 after a year of conflict, and comes a week before Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lebanon.

In the past, Israel had regularly targeted mid-level Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, especially those accused of attempting to rebuild rocket-launch sites or infiltrate the border region.

Second Generation Hezbollah Fighter

Ali Tabatabai was born to an Iranian father and a Lebanese mother. According to Haaretz, he was not among Hezbollah’s founders but belonged to its “second generation". He was deployed in Syria and Yemen to support allied forces in both conflict zones.

Israel’s military said Tabatabai joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and went on to hold several senior roles, including in the Radwan Force, the group’s elite combat unit.

The US State Department designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2016 and announced a $5 million bounty for information on him. According to the department, Tabatabai oversaw Hezbollah’s Radwan Force operations in Syria and Yemen. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said he was responsible for strengthening the group’s military capabilities and overseeing its rearmament.

During last year’s war, Tabatabai headed Hezbollah’s operations division and rose further in rank as several senior commanders were killed, the Israeli military added.

Hezbollah confirmed that senior leader Haytham Ali Tabatabai was killed in Israel’s strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday.

In a statement, the group confirmed the killing of “the great commander" Tabtabai in “a treacherous Israeli attack on the Haret Hreik area in the southern suburbs of Beirut", without specifying his position within the group.

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