Hezbollah mourns top commander

Tabatabai most senior commander to be killed by Israel since 2024 truce

BEIRUT:

Hezbollah held the funeral Monday for its top military chief and other members of the group a day after Israel killed them in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Haytham Ali Tabatabai is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed by Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the two sides.

His assassination comes as Israel has escalated its attacks on Lebanon, with the United States increasing pressure on the Beirut government to disarm Hezbollah.

Israel's military said Sunday it had "eliminated the terrorist Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah's chief of general staff".

The group announced the deaths of Tabatabai and four other members in the attack.

In Beirut's southern suburbs, a densely populated area where Hezbollah holds sway, hundreds of supporters joined Monday's funeral procession for Tabatabai and two of his companions.

Hezbollah members in fatigues carried the coffins, draped in the group's yellow flags, to the sound of religious chants, an AFP correspondent said.

The crowd yelled slogans against Israel and America, while supporters carried portraits of the group's leaders and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Hezbollah said Tabatabai assumed the role of military leader after the most recent war with Israel, which saw the group heavily weakened and senior commanders killed.

Israel has carried out near daily strikes on Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure to prevent the group from rearming.