Israeli strike heightens Beirut tensions

Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Beirut that killed a senior Hezbollah military commander have raised tensions along the Israel–Lebanon frontier, even as residents near the border described daily life as largely unchanged and authorities reported a calm immediate reaction.

Israeli forces said they targeted and killed Haytham Ali Tabatabai, whom they accused of rebuilding Hezbollah’s military infrastructure despite a truce brokered the previous year. Hezbollah confirmed his death and hailed him as a leading jihadist commander. Lebanese health officials reported that the strike killed five people and wounded 28, and it struck a multi‑storey building, sending debris onto a main road. Lebanese leaders denounced the attack as a violation of sovereignty and urged international intervention to prevent further escalation.

Large crowds attended funerals and processions in Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Dahieh district, where mourners draped in Hezbollah flags marched through densely populated streets chanting defiant slogans. Observers said the funerals served both as an expression of grief and a public display of the group’s enduring grassroots support within Lebanon’s Shia community. Hezbollah officials warned that the strike crossed a “red line,” leaving the timing and form of any response to the group’s leadership.

Along Israel’s northern border, residents voiced wariness about the possibility that the year‑old ceasefire could collapse but also expressed determination to maintain everyday routines. Local officials reported that air defences monitored the frontier and that, for now, crossings of immediate violence remained limited compared with previous escalations. Nonetheless, analysts and diplomats warned the incident marks one of the more serious sparks on the Israel–Lebanon front since the ceasefire and could increase the risk of broader confrontation.

The operation comes amid a pattern of near‑daily Israeli strikes inside Lebanon since the ceasefire, which Israel says target Hezbollah arms depots, fighters and reconstruction efforts, and which Lebanon regards as repeated breaches of its territory. The strike also intersected with sensitive regional dynamics: it occurred days before a high-profile international visit to Lebanon, heightening concerns that renewed hostilities could complicate diplomatic initiatives and humanitarian conditions.

International reaction included calls for restraint and renewed appeals for strengthened mechanisms to prevent escalation. Lebanese officials urged outside actors to step in to halt attacks and protect civilians, while Israeli authorities framed the strike as a security measure against the reconstitution of an armed threat at Lebanon’s capital outskirts.