BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel has shattered the ceasefire with Hezbollah, brokered last year by the United States with yet another assassination. It is the latest in a string of ceasefire breaches by Israel's defense forces.
The target of the Israeli regime's attack on Sunday was a top Hezbollah commander. Adding to the brazenness of the attack, it involved an airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut. The deadly strike, in a densely populated area of the city, killed four other people, and injured 28, according to Lebanon's health services.
Hezbollah's Haytham Ali Tabatabai, the chief-of-staff of the group's military wing, the target of the assassination, was killed in the airstrike, Hezbollah confirmed.
Israel's attack came just two days after the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called for talks with Israel. "The Lebanese state is ready to negotiate under the UN, U.S. or joint international sponsorship – any agreement that would establish a framework for a permanent end to transborder aggressions," he announced on Friday from Tyr, a southern city that was devastated by Israeli offensives last year.
"The problem is that Israel is not interested in negotiating at the moment. It wants to eliminate Hezbollah or push the Lebanese army into a clash with the party," Kassem Kassir, a Lebanese journalist close to Hezbollah, told the Al Jazeera network Sunday.
"Every time Aoun or Prime Minister Nawaf Salam talk about negotiations, Israel escalates its aggression."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on the offensive, issuing a statement Sunday, praising the attack.
"A few hours ago, the IDF eliminated Ali Tabatabai, the Chief-of-Staff of the Hezbollah terrorist organization," the Israeli prime minister said.
"Recently, he led Hezbollah's renewed efforts to rearm, this is of course after the heavy blows Hezbollah suffered in the 'Pager Operation,' in the damage to its missile stockpiles, and of course, in the elimination of Nasrallah."
"I thank the IDF and the security forces which carried out a professional, accurate, and successful operation today," Mr Netanyahu said.
The policy I am leading is absolutely clear: Under my leadership, the State of Israel will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its power, and we will not allow it to pose a threat to the State of Israel again."
"I expect the Government of Lebanon to fulfill its commitment to disarm Hezbollah," he said.
The United States was told in advance of Sunday's assassination, according to Israeli officials quoted by various media, however the U,S. says it was only told as the attack was underway, a mirror image of what occurred with the assassination attempts in Qatar.
Israel hit out on Sunday at speculation that it requires permission from the U.S. or any other party to carry out attacks. "All the talk that 'We must receive approvals for this' from one source or another is simply an absolute lie. We operate independently of anyone. Immediate actions to thwart attacks are taken by the IDF automatically. As for the responses, that goes through the Minister of Defense and eventually reaches me, and we decide independently of any factor, and that is how it should be. Israel is responsible for its own security," the prime minister said ahead of his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Hezbollah, a resistance group, began firing rockets at Israeli military bases after Israel launched a ferocious attack on Gaza, following the horrific Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023. Persuaded by the United Sattes and its allies to contain its involvement to skirmishes, the group became involved with a tit-for-tat series of encounters. However Israel, broke out of the mould by launching an unprecedented attack which saw thousands of mobile phones, used by Hezbollah members and others, explode when the owners responded to calls, causing widespread death and significant head injuries for thousands of people.
Then as ceasefire negotiations got underway, Israel surprised with an audacious attack in Beirut in September 2024, assassinating the principal of the ceasefire talks Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's secretary-general for the past 32 years, along with 33 others. Another 195 people were injured.
Despite the breakdown in negotiations caused by the mobile phone attacks and Nasrallah's assassination, the United States brought the parties together, and Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November 2024.
However while Hezbollah has largely stood by the agreement, Israeli forces have continued carrying out airstrikes and assassinations. Just last Sunday, a foot patrol of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was targeted by an Israeli army Merkava tank positioned inside Lebanese territory. Israel said it had been a case of "misidentification."
UN News's Nancy Sarkis spoke to UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel, who said the incident is part of a "deeply worrying escalation" along the Blue Line of separation.
Ms. Ardiel pointed to warning fire near civilians and new Israeli-built concrete walls that straddle the Blue Line, stressing that "any attack on peacekeepers is unacceptable."
Despite the many and routine breaches, Mahmoud Kamati, the deputy head of Hezbollah's political council, said in a statement on Sunday that the assassination of Tabatabai "breaches a new red line." and that with Israel, "agreements are useless."
"The strike on the southern suburbs today opens the door to an escalation of assaults all over Lebanon," he said. "We are coordinating with the Lebanese state to put an end to this Israeli violation."
Joseph Aoun, Lebanon's president, condemned the attack, saying Israel was rejecting "all the efforts and initiatives put forward to end the escalation." In a statement Sunday, Aoun said Lebanon "reiterates its call to the international community to assume its responsibility and intervene firmly and seriously to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people".
